60 seconds on Slavia Prague | Andy Brassell, European football expert | OneFootball

One of the voices of European football on talkSPORT and Sky Sports, well known for The Football Ramble podcast, an author and writer for The Guardian - and a regular contributor here at Spurs for almost 10 years - Andy Brassell will give his view on our UEFA Champions League opponents as part of our '60 seconds on...' pre-match feature this season.

Next up, it's Slavia Prague in MD6 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday evening (8pm UK) - a team where, as Andy explains, results in black and white of no wins, three draws and two defeats in the UCL so far this term maybe don't tell the whole story...

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Unbeaten domestically – and a test

Andy: "I think this might be a little bit tougher than people expect for a couple of reasons. First up, obviously, Slavia Prague are unbeaten in the Czech First League. They're top, so they're in a good position, domestically. If you look at the detail of what they've done in the Champions League this season, and obviously they're a well-backed, well-funded, well-constructed side, they've only really been beaten by really good sides - Arsenal and Inter - and it was only Inter really gave them a proper beating. There were bits of the Arsenal game which I thought were very good before Arsenal made their quality count at the big moments. However, if you look at some of those other games and they've kept clean sheets against Atalanta and Athletic, who are both good sides from good leagues. If you look at Atalanta, they went and had 16 shots out there, which is pretty amazing, really - they didn't just sit behind the ball and dig in."

Domestic dominance - defensive diligence in Europe

Andy: "So, Slavia Prague have got something about them, but they are able to defend in a way that's sometimes quite difficult for teams that are dominant domestically when they come into the Champions League and face teams from bigger leagues, and all of a sudden have possession cut from 60 per cent to 30, 35. That’s quite difficult to cope with mentally as well as tactically, but they've done it quite well. The thing they'll really regret is the fact they were 2-0 up against Bodo Glimt in the first game and weren't able to hold onto that. If you look at the position they're in now, it feels quite unlikely they're going to reach the top 24 – but that doesn't mean they couldn't ruin it for any of the remaining teams they've got to play."

Chory the one to watch

Andy: "Spurs, I think, will have to be patient in this game. At the other end, when we talked about them actually having a go when the moment comes, I would say the one to keep an eye out for is Tomas Chory, who's been scoring consistently in the league. He’s a big, towering centre-forward, bringing up a few memories of Jan Koller, if we're talking about Czech strikers of yesteryear. So, obviously, Spurs are favourites, but it’s not a given in, I think it's fair to say, a game that they've really got to win."