Tottenham have a solid advantage to defend when they face Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie. The Spurs managed to grab a comfortable 3-0 victory in the first leg three weeks ago, with goals scored by Son Heung-Min, Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente, all in the second half. Before that match the two teams had met at the same stage of the UEFA Europa League in 2016 and Borussia Dortmund prevailed quite easily at the time with a 3-0 triumph at home and a 2-1 victory in London.
Borussia Dortmund have a seemingly impossible task in this second leg, but they really don't have anything to lose so they will most likely go for broke and hope for the best. After the defeat in London they had serious problems in the Bundesliga as well, they got held to a goalless draw at Nurnberg and then lost 2-1 at Augsburg last week. They are now tied on 54 points with defending champions Bayern Munich and it seems their title bid might fail after all. However, their home form is still very good as they haven't lost any home matches since the start of the season. Lukasz Piszczek is the only injury concern for the home side.
Tottenham have been suffering quite badly after the first-leg triumph, they were unable to win any of the following three Premier league matches and even lost two of them. Last weekend they did manage to grab a 1-1 draw in the North London Derby against Arsenal but they were extremely close to losing that game as well. The Spurs are still third in the Premier League table but now they are just three points above fourth-placed Manchester United. Harry Winks, Eric Dier and Dele Alli are all fitness doubts for manager Mauricio Pochettino, who will most likely look to make some changes in the starting eleven.
Probable line-ups:
Dortmund: Burki - Hakimi, Akanji, Diallo, Guerreiro - Delaney, Witsel - Sancho, Gotze, Reus - Alcacer
Tottenham: Lloris - Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen - Sissoko, Wanyama, Skipp - Eriksen - Kane, Son
My prediction: Borussia Dortmund to win 3-1, it will be a tough night for Tottenham but they should be able to advance to the quarter-finals thanks to the first-leg result.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Dortmund win - 1.95
Draw - 4.00
Tottenham win - 3.75
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