Juventus vs Tottenham Hotspur. UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
Juventus StadiumAttendance41,232.
Tuesday 13 February 2018 19:41, UK
Lucas Moura could make his Tottenham debut in their Champions League last-16 first leg tie with Juventus on Tuesday in Turin.
The Deadline Day signing has yet to make it onto the field for his new side, but has been registered in the travelling squad and could be included as Mauricio Pochettino looks to freshen up his side.
Tottenham will be heading into the game on a high after beating Arsenal 1-0 in Saturday's north London derby, but Pochettino is under no illusion that Juventus will be a tough task.
"I think Juventus is a massive club. We cannot compare with Juventus, in their history they won everything," Pochettino said.
"Of course our dream is to reach the level of Juventus. We're going to be competitive and we'll see if we can compete tomorrow."
Harry Kane already has six goals in five Champions League games this season, but Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini says the Italians will be looking to stop the entire Tottenham team, not just their talismanic striker.
"Stopping Kane one on one with me alone is pretty much impossible. That's not my plan, but instead for the whole team to stop Tottenham which is the most important thing," he told a pre-match press conference.
"It's true that one-on-one clashes are important, but the entire team has to do its best to limit not just Kane but other players too. They have a great front four in attack who link up very well together. We should not just think about Tottenham as Harry Kane, but as a whole team."
Toby Alderweireld has not travelled with the Tottenham squad as the decision has been taken to leave him in London where he can continue his conditioning work rather than travel to a game and sit on the bench.
Juan Foyth and Kyle Walker-Peters were also left at home but Erik Lamela is in line for his first Champions League appearance of the season.
Blaise Matuidi could miss the game with a thigh strain he sustained during Juventus' 7-0 win over Sassuolo earlier this month but Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa have returned to training.
This will be the first competitive meeting between Juventus and Tottenham.
Juventus are unbeaten in their last 22 Champions League home games (W14 D8), their longest ever run without a defeat in the competition on home soil. Bayern Munich are the last team to beat them in Turin, back in April 2013 (2-0).
Juventus have lost only two of their last 19 Champions League games (v Real Madrid in last season's final and Barcelona in this season's group stages), winning 12 and drawing five.
Juventus scored seven goals in this season's six group stages, the lowest tally amongst the 16 clubs left in the competition.
Tottenham have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the second time in three appearances after 2010/11. They've never progressed further than the quarter-finals.
Tottenham are one of four teams still unbeaten in this season's Champions League, alongside Barcelona, Besiktas and Liverpool.
Gonzalo Higuain has scored four goals in 27 Champions League knockout games (0.15), as opposed to 15 goals in 44 group games (0.34).
Harry Kane is directly involved in 53 per cent of Tottenham's goals in this season's Champions League, scoring six and assisting two of his side's 15 goals.
I had to share a plane back to London with a few Tottenham fans, who were understandably very smug, but it is a big boost for Spurs coming into this game in such good form. They should have seen Arsenal off by a good distance.
Juventus will be very different to Arsenal and their defence will be very physical with Harry Kane. Dele Alli wasn't great again but he has raised his game in Europe and they need him to step up again in games like this one.
If Spurs play like they did in the first half against Arsenal then they'll struggle but if they play like the second half then they could get something here.
With Toby Alderweireld out, I'm going for a player who frustrates me at times but often scores without playing well, Gonzalo Higuain, as Davinson Sanchez is a good athlete but has a few mistakes in him.
Charlie predicts: 2-1 and Higuain to score first (22/1 with Sky Bet)
Juventus are Sky Bet's even-money favourites for the victory with Tottenham priced at 3/1 while the draw is a 23/10 chance. There is, however, little to separate them in the Champions League outright market, with Juve marginally shorter at odds of 20/1 to 22/1 for Spurs, who are 11/10 to make the quarter-finals. Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala head the first goalscorer betting at 10/3 apiece, followed by Harry Kane at 9/2.
