Opinion: Breaking down Tottenham’s latest test ahead of first-time meeting

Over the last few years Tottenham fans have seen their side play some of the best teams across Europe in the Champions League, Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus have all faced Spurs, and now the next test comes against RB Leipzig.

This game will be the first time that the Lilywhites have ever taken on the German side, and here we’ll be taking a look at some of the key things to keep an eye out for ahead of the tie as Jose Mourinho welcomes Julian Nagelsmann and his Leipzig side who sit 2nd in the Bundesliga.

Starting with recent form, the key thing to note is that in the six games since Leipzig returned from the European edition of the winter break, the German side have won just two of their six games, and they’ve only managed to find the back of the net on one occasion when playing away from home, when January signing Dani Olmo netted against Eintracht Frankfurt in a 3-1 defeat in the DFB Pokal.

As goalscoring goes, though, the man that everyone will be looking out for, and we don’t need to tell you this much, is Timo Werner. The German international is an incredible goalscorer who thrives in front of goal with searing pace and a clinical touch, his 20 Bundesliga goals this season is a figure only bettered by Robert Lewandowski who has 23.

Much like Leipzig since the winter break, though, Werner has struggled for form and is five games without a goal since his brace against Union Berlin and if the Tottenham Hotspur is bouncing ahead of Leipzig’s and Spurs hit the ground running then keeping Werner quiet is certainly possible.

It also cannot be forgotten that this is just the first time that RB Leipzig have made it into the knockout stages of the Champions League, and with this new ground being trodden by the German side, Tottenham’s experience in this competition from the last few years could prove pivotal, something that Mourinho will certainly be counting on.