3 Tottenham players Pochettino must drop ahead of their Champions League match

Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur return to Champions League action this week when they travel to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.

Spurs lost their opening group match of the competition at home to AS Monaco, but got the all-important three points away at CSKA Moscow last time out.

Their tally of three points from two games sees them second in Group E, two points clear of Tuesday’s opponents Leverkusen.

Photo: Charlotte Wilson / Offside.

Pochettino’s side have also made a decent start to the new Premier League season, and are the only unbeaten team after eight matches, with Dele Alli’s late goal at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday preserving that unbeaten status.

Nevertheless, the Spurs boss may look to freshen his side up when they take on their German opponents on Tuesday night, especially as this game is the first of three consecutive midweek fixtures for the North London club.

Here’s THREE players the Spurs boss may look to replace on Tuesday night…

Moussa Sissoko

Photo: Mark Leech / Offside.

Moussa Sissoko’s big money move to Tottenham in the summer raised many eyebrows up and down the country.

And it’s fair to say that he has done little to live up to his £30m price tag since moving to White Hart Lane.

He has been substituted in his last three starts for Spurs, and with Son Heung-min expected to come back into the fold, Pochettino, if he goes 4-1-4-1 again, may drop the former Newcastle United midfielder at Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Alternatively, if he feels that he needs more in the centre of midfield, he could replace Sissoko with Mousa Dembele, who got a decent half hour run out at West Bromwich Albion last weekend.

Either way, Sissoko has not done enough to warrant a starting berth on Tuesday.

Erik Lamela

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

It’s been a frustrating few weeks for Erik Lamela, who hasn’t really backed up his decent start to the season.

He’s had a couple of below-par performances, and Pochettino may look to rest the Argentine against Leverkusen in a bid to freshen him up ready for the succeeding few weeks.

Depending on how Pochettino plays it, Lamela could be the one that makes way for Son, especially as Vincent Janssen performed reasonably well at West Brom on Saturday, and deserves to remain upfront.

Kyle Walker

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Pochettino likes to keep rotating his full-backs as a result of the many competitions Spurs are in, and I think it’ll be a good time to rest Kyle Walker.

The England international was not at his explosive best down the right against West Brom. Fatigue could be the reason for that, and with a more-than-able deputy in Kieran Trippier waiting in the wings, he should get the nod on Tuesday.

Former Burnley man Trippier started Spurs’ 1-0 win at CSKA Moscow last month, and performed well on the night, so he deserves the opportunity to start in Leverkusen on Tuesday.