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Tottenham projected XI v Juventus: Pochettino will attack the Old Lady

By Rucker Haringey

TURIN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 13: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur and Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus shake hands after the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur at Allianz Stadium on February 13, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 13: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur and Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus shake hands after the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur at Allianz Stadium on February 13, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 25: Mousa Dembele of Tottenham Hotspur (R) breaks away from James McArthur of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park on February 25, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 25: Mousa Dembele of Tottenham Hotspur (R) breaks away from James McArthur of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park on February 25, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images) /

Defensive midfielder-Mousa Dembele

If you think Pochettino is going to sit a midfielder he’s compared to Maradona on the bench against Juventus then you’ve completely lost your mind. Unless Dembele suffers a last-minute injury he will certainly feature in Tottenham’s starting XI.

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His biggest mission against Juventus will be to keep Miralem PJanic in check. The Bosnian midfielder has the class and skill to hurt Spurs in a number of ways. Dembele’s job will be to use his physicality to make him a bystander. Look for Dembele to try to exert his physical dominance early and often in this one.

Defensive midfielder-Eric Dier

Pochettino clearly trusts Dier more than any of his other options in the double-pivot and he’ll need the Englishman to come up huge in this match. I say this a lot when I’m talking about Dier, but the key for him will be to make sure he doesn’t try to do too much.

Dier would be wise to make sure he plays as the deeper of the two defensive midfielders in this match. That might serve as a shock to his ego, but this match is much bigger than Dier’s sense of pride. He must focus on defense and short passes forward. If he tries to do anything else, it could be a real problem.

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