Tottenham Hotspur will welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Wembley Stadium for their fourth Champions League group game on 2 November, Wednesday.

Where to watch live

Kick-off is at 7:45pm BST. Live coverage of the match is on BT Sport 2. Radio commentary of the game is available on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Overview

Tottenham still trail Monaco by one point in the Group E standings and even through progression to the knockout phase will be their main priority, topping the group will also be high on the list to get a more favourable draw in the last 16.

Mauricio Pochettino's team have lost just once in the last five games in all competitions, but are struggling to win games having drawn four of the others. The Argentine manager will again be without Harry Kane, who only returned to training this week after recovering from an ankle injury, while Toby Alderweireld is also absent owing to a knee injury.

Tottenham face arch rivals Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday (6 November) and the manager could rest a few key players to keep them fresh for the weekend. However, he is aware that they will need all three points to keep them in the hunt for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Harry Kane
Harry Kane returned to training this week but is not available for selection for Tottenham's game against Bayer Leverkusen Getty

Bayer Leverkusen, on the other hand, have won just one of their last five games, and are currently in 10<sup>th place in the Bundesliga. The German club were unlucky not to take all three points when the two teams faced each other at the Bayer Arena on match day three. Spurs had Hugo Lloris to thanks after the goalkeeper made a string of fine saves to keep the German club from scoring.

Javier Hernandez is the key player for Leverkusen, and the former Manchester United striker will need to be at the top of his game if they are to get anything from their trip to Wembley. He started the season well and has scored seven goals in 13 games, but has failed to find the net in the last five games.

What managers say

Mauricio Pochettino: We need to be clever now, to play with intensity from the first moment of the game. [Wembley] needs to inspire us: 90,000 people that support you and are behind you must be a big problem for our opponents. It's important for us because we understand that this game will be key.

We understand that Leverkusen are a very good team. It'll be tough but we are conscious that we need to take the three points if we want to go to the next round.

Roger Schmidt: We're really looking forward to playing here at this very special venue. Wembley is truly a highlight. Obviously it's an important game and it's down to us to show what we can do on the pitch. We want to perform to our best and if we perform as we can then we have a very good chance.

We know from the first game how tough Tottenham are, but we showed in the second half that we can cause them problems. We'll be looking to do the same again here. We know that Tottenham are outstanding in the transition. But so are we.

Betting Odds (betfair)

  • Bayer Leverkusen: 29/10
  • Draw: 9/4
  • Tottenham Hotspur: 1

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur

Possible XI: Lloris; Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose; Wanyama, Dembélé; Son, Alli, Eriksen; Janssen.

Bayer Leverkusen

Possible XI: Leno; Henrichs, Toprak, Jedvaj, Wendell; Baumgartlinger, Aranguiz; Volland, Kampl, Brandt; Hernández.

Champions League