UEFA Champions League preview: Inter Milan and Tottenham face off at the San Siro
Inter Milan and Tottenham will face each other in a crucial Champions League encounter at Milan's San Siro on Wednesday, 20 October.
The defending champions of the tournament host the Champions League-newcomers in a game that could decide the winner of Group A, as both teams have four points with two games played.
So far in the competition, Harry Redknapp's side have impressed with direct and optimistic football.
Tottenham were unlucky to see the team's two first-half strikes be cancelled out away to Werder Bremen in the first round, while new signing Rafael van der Vaart led the Spurs to a fiery 4–1 victory against
FC Twente at White Hart Lane three weeks ago.
Inter also secured a 2–2 draw in the first round away to Twente, before thrashing Bremen 4–0 at the San Siro courtesy of a hat-trick from in-form striker Samuel Eto'o and a goal by star playmaker Wesley
Sneijder.
Too dependent on Eto'o?
Rafael Benitez's team have been criticized for being overly dependent on Eto'o, who has scored 12 goals in 11 appearances for Inter this season, and with Diego Milito still out for the Italians, Eto'o
will likely be the man Benitez looks to for goals against Tottenham.
Benitez, whose team won three consecutive league titles backed by former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has said he does not sweat his team's dependence on Eto'o too much.
The Cameroonian could be paired with Brazilian youngster Philippe Coutinho on Wednesday, as he was against Cagliari on Sunday, 17 October.
Esteban Cambiasso, Mancini and McDonald Mariga are all out for Benitez, while Jonathan Biabiany and Thiago Motta may also be rested.
"I expect a difficult match against a team that is mentally strong, who push high up the pitch and are good on the counter-attack," Benitez said of his opponents, a team he knows well from his six-season
spell at Liverpool. "We're going to have to play very well if we want to win."
van der Vaart's absence could prove costly
van der Vaart, who picked up a red card during the game against Twente, will not feature for Tottenham, who will also miss Ledley King, the team's captain, who was injured during the recent league fixture
against Fulham.
With Jermain Defoe having been out since the international break in September, Redknapp will likely field a 4–5–1 formation with Peter Crouch as a lone striker. Crouch, who will be facing his former Liverpool
manager, has four goals in three European appearances this season.
Defenders Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul will be absent for Tottenham, meaning Redknapp's only option is to pair Arsenal-reject William Gallas and Sebastien Bassong in the centre of defence. Gallas could
struggle with the pace of Eto'o and Coutinho.
Inter's Javier Zanetti has called for the Italian champions not to underestimate their English opponents. But with the influential van der Vaart out and only Luka Modric to replace him, anything other
than an Italian victory on Wednesday woud have to be seen as an upset.
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