Leipzig vs Spurs Champions League preview: where to watch, predicted line-ups, team news

Leipzig welcome Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 on 10 March at 21:00 CET. This page will update with team news, quotes and expert analysis as kick-off approaches.

Where to watch the game on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here.

What happened in the first leg?

In a nutshell, Timo Werner's second-half penalty separated the sides. Though both teams were denied by the woodwork - Angeliño for Leipzig and Giovani Lo Celso for Spurs - a one-goal away win was the least the German visitors deserved for a bold and attacking display at White Hart Lane.

Possible line-ups

Leipzig: Gulácsi; Klostermann, Upamecano, Halstenberg; Adams, Laimer, Sabitzer, Angeliño; Werner, Schick, Nkunku
Out: Orban (knee)
Doubtful: Kampl (ankle), Konaté (hamstring), Werner (thigh)

Tottenham: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Sánchez, Dier, Vertonghen; Winks, Lo Celso; Lamela, Moura, Alli
Out: Kane (hamstring), Son (arm), Sissoko (knee), Foyth (thigh), Bergwijn (ankle), Davies (hamstring)
Misses next game if booked: Lo Celso

Latest results

Leipzig
Form: DDWWW (all competitions, most recent first)
Latest: Wolfsburg 0-0 Leipzig, 07/03
Where they stand: 3rd in Bundesliga

Tottenham
Form: DLLLL
Latest: Burnley 1-1 Tottenham, 07/03
Where they stand: 8th in Premier League

Expert predictions

James Thorogood, Leipzig reporter: Leipzig are no longer the insecure side they were when they first took to the European stage in 2017. The 1-0 win a fortnight ago compliments a string of big-game performances which have demonstrated a mettle to match their dynamic front line. Striker Timo Werner said the knockout stage debutants could feasibly reach the semi-finals with "two good performances" and a bit of "luck in the draw". A bold claim, but so far so good.

Mark Pettit, Tottenham reporter: One down from the home leg, still shorn of their two most potent attacking players and leaking goals again at the back, it is hard to make a case for Spurs turning this tie around. However, they had their backs against the wall plenty of times in this competition last season but somehow found a way to reach the final. Should they somehow clamber anywhere near those heights again in their current predicament, it would be an even greater achievement.

What the coaches say

Julian Nagelsmann, Leipzig coach: "Any player who wouldn't go beyond his limits [for a game like this] does not have what it takes to be a professional. We are hoping to deliver a similar performance to our display in London. Having a good goalkeeper is always important. When two good teams play each other, there can be very few chances. I am very happy to have Péter [Gulácsi], but I am not so happy that Tottenham have Hugo Lloris, because he is a great keeper too."

José Mourinho, Tottenham manager: "We don't have the box sharks, the players who smell blood in the box and they just put the ball in the net. So even when we dominate it's difficult to score lots of goals. Defensively we feel that pressure and every time we make a mistake it looks like we're punished. The boys are not silly and they understand all these frailties. We don't hide from them. We need to be all together, have a fantastic individual performance from everyone and give a solid collective performance. I believe in the boys and I think we can do it."

Form guide

Leipzig
• Leipzig finished three points clear at the top of Group G, picking up seven of their 11 points on their travels thanks to wins at Benfica (2-1) and Zenit (2-0) before letting slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Lyon on Matchday 6. At home, they bounced back from losing 2-0 to eventual section runners-up Lyon by defeating Zenit 2-1 and drawing 2-2 with Benfica in their penultimate game to secure progress.

• Leipzig have won six of their 13 UEFA Champions League fixtures (D3 L4).

• The defeat of Zenit is Leipzig's only victory in their last four European home matches (D2 L1). They had won five in a row before losing on Matchday 1 of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League to Salzburg.

• Third in the Bundesliga last season and German Cup finalists, this is Leipzig's third European campaign, and only their 32nd match. In 2017/18 they became the first team to make their European debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage, picking up seven points to finish third in a section including Beşiktaş, Porto and Monaco. They went on to reach the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals before losing to Marseille.

• Leipzig's first European home game was a 1-1 draw against Monaco on Matchday 1 two years ago; also at home in that season's group stage, they beat Porto 3-2 but lost 2-1 to Beşiktaş.

• This season's results have made it two wins in six home UEFA Champions League matches for Leipzig (D2 L2).

• The first leg was Leipzig's first European game against an English club.

• Leipzig's record in two-legged knockout European ties is W5 L1, their 2017/18 loss to Marseille the sole defeat (1-0 h, 2-5 a).

• This is only the second time Leipzig have won away in the first leg in UEFA competition. They were 3-1 victors at Napoli in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 32 – their first knockout tie – and held on to progress on away goals despite a 2-0 home defeat.

• Leipzig have yet to feature in a UEFA penalty shoot-out.

Tottenham 
• Spurs finished six points clear in second place in Group B despite losing both games against Bayern München, who ended with maximum points. Tottenham went down 3-1 in Germany on Matchday 6 having drawn 2-2 at Olympiacos, their other away match bringing a 4-0 victory at Crvena zvezda that was their record away success in the UEFA Champions League.

• Spurs also lost 7-2 at home to Bayern – the first time they had conceded seven goals at home in their 137-year history – but recovered in style with a 5-0 home win against Crvena zvezda, their biggest win in the competition. A last-16 place was secured as Spurs, in José Mourinho's first European match since replacing Mauricio Pochettino as manager, came from two goals down to beat Olympiacos 4-2 in the fifth round of matches.

• In last season's UEFA Champions League, Pochettino's side recovered from taking one point from their first three games to reach the round of 16, where Borussia Dortmund were brushed aside (3-0 h, 1-0 a). Dramatic away-goal victories against both Manchester City (1-0 h, 3-4 a) and Ajax (0-1 h, 3-2 a) then took Spurs into a first European Cup final, but Premier League rivals Liverpool proved too strong at Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano, running out 2-0 winners.

• Spurs had won only one of six games in the UEFA Champions League (D1 L4) before Matchday 3, but then recorded three successive victories before losing at Bayern and at home to Leipzig.

• This is only Spurs' fourth UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie (W2 L1) – and they are unbeaten away from home at this stage. In 2010/11 they won 1-0 away to AC Milan and on aggregate; two seasons ago they drew 2-2 at Juventus in the first leg but bowed out after a 2-1 home defeat.

• Last season's defeat of Dortmund at this stage means Spurs' record in two-legged knockout ties against German clubs is W5 L3.

• The Lilywhites had won four consecutive matches against German clubs, home and away, all against Dortmund, before losing at home to Bayern on Matchday 2.

• Tottenham's record in Germany is W5 D2 L7; the defeat at Bayern on Matchday 6 was only their second in their last seven visits (W3 D2).

• Their heaviest European defeat came in Germany – an 8-0 loss at Köln in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup, the last time they had conceded seven goals before losing to Bayern on Matchday 2.

• Tottenham lost the first three UEFA competition ties in which they were beaten in the home first leg, but recovered to defeat Ajax in the most recent, going through on away goals in last season's semi-final thanks to a second-half Lucas Moura hat-trick in Amsterdam having trailed 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate.

• That tie was the third instance in which Spurs had lost the home first leg 1-0, and the first aggregate victory; they were beaten by PSV Eindhoven in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16 (1-0 away, 5-6 penalties) and Real Madrid in the 1984/85 UEFA Cup quarter-finals (0-0 away). Having also drawn at Benfica in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (1-3 h, 2-2 a), the win at Ajax extended Spurs' record of having never lost the second leg after a first-leg home defeat.

• Tottenham's record in three UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L2:
4-3 v Anderlecht, 1983/84 UEFA Cup final
5-6 v PSV Eindhoven, 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16
1-4 v Basel, 2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-final

Links and trivia

• Leipzig's Ethan Ampadu is on loan from Chelsea.

• Has played in Germany:
Heung-Min Son (Hamburg 2008–13, Bayer Leverkusen 2013–15)

• Have also played in England:
Ademola Lookman (Charlton 2013–17, Everton 2017–19)
Angeliño (Manchester City 2014–20)

• International team-mates:
Ethan Ampadu & Ben Davies (Wales)

• Have played together:
Christopher Nkunku & Serge Aurier (Paris Saint-Germain 2015–17)
Christopher Nkunku & Lucas Moura (Paris Saint-Germain 2015–18)
Dayot Upamecano, Christopher Nkunku & Tanguy Ndombélé (France Under-21)
Angeliño & Steven Bergwijn (PSV Eindhoven 2018/19)

• Harry Kane scored in England's 5-0 win against Patrik Schick's Czech Republic in a UEFA EURO 2020 qualifier on 22 March 2019.

• Dele Alli scored as England beat Emil Forsberg's Sweden in the 2018 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.