Tottenham Hotspur have named their 22-man squad for Wednesday night’s UEFA Super Cup showdown against Paris Saint-Germain (h/t Football London).
The box office showdown offers Tottenham a rare shot at bagging back-to-back silverware, but they’re not in the best shape to take on the Champions League holders.
Tottenham ended their 17-year trophy drought in May with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Premier League rivals Manchester United in the Europa League final.
Just three months later, they have the chance to add another silverware to the cabinet.
However, PSG will head into the mouth-watering contest at Stadio Friuli in Italy as overwhelming favourites and not just for the obvious reasons.
Tottenham’s preparation for the game has been far from ideal. There are still several holes that need to be plugged, and Bayern Munich exposed those vulnerabilities in their most recent outing.
Thomas Frank watched helplessly from the sidelines as his side were battered 4-0 in the pre-season Telekom Cup, and there’s a decent chance they could be subjected to an even worse fate against PSG.
Tottenham are not ready for PSG
Aside from their lack of urgency in the transfer market, Frank’s side has also been struggling with injury problems.
James Maddison became the latest casualty last week after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in a friendly against Newcastle United.
He joins Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, Manor Solomon, Bryan Gil, and Kota Takai in the infirmary.
Talented duo Dane Scarlett and Luka Vuskovic have also been left out, with both players expected to leave the club on loan.
There has been some decent news on the injury front, with Dominic Solanke and Destiny Udogie joining the travelling party. Whether they’d be able to play a part is a different question entirely.
On paper, Tottenham are not in an ideal position to give PSG a run for their money.
However, Frank will be hoping for a decent performance from his team in his first competitive outing as Spurs manager.
Here are the 22 players on Tottenham’s official Super Cup squad list:
Goalkeepers: Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky, Brandon Austin.
Defenders: Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies.
Midfielders: Joao Palhinha, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr.
Attackers: Mohammed Kudus, Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel, Richarlison, Dominic Solanke.