Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund: Ailing Spurs to suffer again | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Will Spurs v Dortmund be Thomas Frank's final game in charge?

Tottenham's season is lurching from crisis to crisis, and Kevin Hatchard doesn't believe things will get any easier against Borussia Dortmund.

Tottenham Hotspur v Borussia DortmundTuesday 20 January, 20:00

Frank on the brink

It's pretty bad for a Tottenham manager to oversee a dismal defeat at home to bitter London rivals Chelsea. It's even worse to get blown away in a North London derby in a game where you set out to frustrate and contain, only to be pulverised anyway. If you then lose at home to West Ham, whose fans seem to despise Spurs with all of their being, then you really are on the thinnest of ice.

It's pretty widely accepted that Thomas Frank is a very nice chap who has been dealt a bad hand. He did a fine job at Brentford, but he has inherited a split fanbase (there remain a good many Ange Postecoglou loyalists), an unbalanced and injury-plagued squad and a long-running negative home record that has engendered frustration and angst.

Frank's future as Spurs manager was discussed at board level following Saturday's loss to West Ham, and it appears the proximity of this game against Dortmund is the only thing to have saved him. As we know from Xabi Alonso's recent example at Real Madrid, surviving from game to game rarely works out in the end.

The numbers tell the story. Tottenham are nearly as close to the relegation zone as they are to the Champions League spots, and the Expected Points model used by understat.com puts them outside the top ten. On home soil, Tottenham have won just two of their last eight games in all competitions.

In the Champions League, Frank's men are in the mix to qualify directly for the last 16. They have duffed up the smaller sides like Copenhagen and Villarreal, and they have ground out somewhat fortunate draws at Monaco and Bodo/Glimt. This competition probably has provided the brightest moments of Tottenham's campaign.

Spurs' injury crisis is reaching epic proportions. James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski and Ben Davies are out, while Joao Palhinha is a doubt. Pape Sarr has been away at AFCON, while neither Yves Bissouma nor new signing Conor Gallagher are eligible.

Kovac has made Dortmund the best of the rest

With Bayern Munich dominating the Bundesliga to a record-breaking extent this season, Borussia Dortmund boss Niko Kovac has just had to concentrate on making Die Schwarzgelben as competitive as possible. He has fulfilled the brief so far - when he took over from the hapless Nuri Sahin partway through last season, BVB were a long way adrift of the top four.

The Croatian coach has improved the fitness levels of the players, they are more tactically disciplined, and a switch to a back three has given the side more stability. Midfielders like Jobe Bellingham, Carney Chukwuemeka and Felix Nmecha have given Dortmund a bit of dynamism in the middle of the park, and the much-admired Niko Schlotterbeck has become one of the most impressive defenders in the country.

Dortmund have only lost three games all season. They went down 2-1 at Bayern in Der Klassiker, they held their own for a while at the Etihad before succumbing to an unrepresentative 4-1 defeat against Manchester City, and perhaps most painfully they went out of the DFB Pokal at home to Bayer Leverkusen.

Kovac has made a significant change up front in recent weeks, with the misfiring Serhou Guirassy making way for Fabio Silva in attack, and the Portuguese could get the nod again here. Chelsea loanee Aaron Anselmino is struggling with a hamstring injury, and there are doubts over Marcel Sabitzer and Ramy Bensebaini.

Back visitors with insurance

Given Tottenham's injury problems, their awful form and the fact their manager's future at the club is hanging by a thread, I'm pleasantly surprised to see we can back Dortmund Draw No Bet here at 1.9.

Dortmund have become a really tough team to beat under Niko Kovac, and they have lost just one of six in the Champions League. Had they been a bit more streetwise in draws against Juventus and Bodo/Glimt, they'd be in the top eight already.

Keep an eye on frustrated Romero

Spurs skipper Cristian Romero was on the scoresheet on Saturday against West Ham, only for his goal to be rendered useless by Callum Wilson's late winner. He is however a threat from set plays, and Dortmund's fragility in that area was showcased by the fact they conceded two set piece goals against St Pauli in Saturday's 3-2 win.

Romero is a combative and physical defender at the best of times, but he is cutting a very frustrated figure at present. We can get odds of 5/4 on Romero to have two or more foul involvements and to have a shot on the Bet Builder. The Argentinian has had two or more foul involvements in seven of his last ten games, and has had a goal attempt in eight of the last ten.

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