Tottenham begin Group B with tough trip to Greece

Last season’s Champions League finalists Tottenham Hotspur begin their 2019/20 campaign with a trip to Greek side Olympiakos.

Spurs’ trip to Greece kicks off group B’s fixtures as Bayern Munich take on Crvena zvezda in the other fixture in the group.

The atmosphere within the is notoriously difficult to deal with and Mauricio Pochettino will be well aware of the challenges that lay ahead of his side.

His Tottenham team will undoubtedly go into this fixture as favourites, especially after an impressive 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace last weekend.

Olympiakos have started their domestic campaign in fine form, winning three from three so far. Their last result was a 5-0 thrashing at home to Volos, a match they will hope will act as a springboard as they look to shock Spurs.

Team news

Tottenham continue to be without Giovani Lo Celso after he sustained an injury on international duty which is set to keep him out till the end of October.

Elsewhere, Juan Foyth and Ryan Sessegnon are still undergoing rehabilitation for their injuries whilst Davinson Sanchez and Kyle Walker-Peters are also slight doubts for the fixture.

The home side remains without long-term absentees Ruben Semedo and Konstantinos Fortounis.

Home manager Pedro Martins on whether Bayern and Tottenham are favourites for the group:

“Certainly. This group features clear favorites to qualify, namely Bayern and Tottenham. This is clear. We are not to be considered a favorite, simply enough because we are not. Should we manage to qualify, this will be an amazing feat.”

Away manager Mauricio Pochettino on recovering from last season’s final loss:

“Being honest I was thinking a lot during the summer. To finish losing the final is always so painful because you can’t put out the feeling and you need to wait to start again to repair the damage.

“It’s exciting to start a new campaign and here in Greece. It’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere as well.”

Head-to-head

The two sides have only ever met twice when paired up in a European double-header in 1972. They both have a win each from them fixtures, Tottenham winning 4-0 at home in October 1972 before Olympiakos emerging 1-0 in Athens a month later.

Expected line-ups

Olympiakos – Sa; Koutris, Elabdellaoui, Cisse, Meriah; Podence, Guilherme, Randjelovic, Valbuena; Camara, El-Arabi

Tottenham – Lloris; Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Winks, Sissoko; Lamela, Lucas, Son; Kane