This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Tottenham Hotspur play host to Bayern Munich in their second Champions League group game on Tuesday night, and manager Mauricio Pochettino will be relying on a big performance from midfielder Harry Winks to stop the in-form Philippe Coutinho.
Spurs’ own European campaign got off to a disappointing start as they surrendered a two-goal lead in Athens against Olympiacos to draw 2-2, which then led to two more negative performances and results on the road against Leicester City and Colchester United.
However, the north London outfit showed some fight by beating Southampton despite playing just under an hour with 10 men on Saturday.
Aside from the penalty shoot-out loss against the League Two club, Winks has been an ever-present in the Tottenham starting XI so far this term, often lining up alongside either Moussa Sissoko or Tanguy Ndombele – or even both sometimes – in the centre of the park.
He has impressed as well and he was one of the only players to come out with any credit from the draw in Greece.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
The 23-year-old, who earns £50,000-a-week according to Spotrac, has certainly stepped up to the plate when some of his teammates have been guilty of not in recent times, and he must do it again against the Bundesliga giants.
Coutinho is a household name among Premier League fans thanks to his time with Liverpool, and while he was without a goal or an assist in his first three German top flight appearances for Bayern this season, he has now found some form.
The Brazil international has scored one and assisted another in both of his previous two outings against Cologne and Paderborn, playing the full 90 minutes in both encounters.
Pochettino will know all about the threat of the 27-year-old having managed him at Espanyol previously, and how he can punish you if he is given too much space in and around the edge of the penalty area.
Meanwhile, Winks won three tackles against Olympiacos and has averaged 0.9 interceptions in the English top flight so far this term, according to WhoScored, and those are two skills he will likely need to utilise against Coutinho.
The former Liverpool man had six shots, made three key passes and completed four dribbles in Bayern’s opener against Red Star Belgrade, to show how effective he can be in the final third.
The onus then will be on Winks to prevent him from doing that, and if he does it could help Tottenham to another famous night in Europe.