The Daly Brief | Spurs vs Slavia Prague, UEFA Champions League

"Slavia Prague are yet to win in the Champions League this season, but draws against Atalanta, Bodø/Glimt and Athletic Club show they have fight. A 6ft 6ins striker may cause problems - while perhaps Micky van de Ven could be persuaded to go on another extraordinary run..."

Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit

How do Slavia Prague set up?

More often than not, tonight’s visitors set up with three at the back – in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. While dominant domestically (they’re top), they rank 31st in the Champions League for average possession (43.8%) and 35th of 36 teams for passes completed. They’ll try to play narrow and compact out of possession - meaning whoever starts in advanced central midfield for Spurs, be it Xavi Simons, Lucas Bergvall or Pape Matar Sarr, needs to be finding pockets of space to make something happen. Slavia are having to battle in this competition, an idea reinforced by the fact they’ve made the second most tackles (27 per game), second most clearances (33 per game) and most fouls (18 per game) of any Champions League side.

Struggling to score...

Slavia haven’t scored in their last four Champions League games – although two of those were 3-0 losses to Inter and Arsenal. Their last goals came in a 2-2 draw with Bodø/Glimt back in September, and only Ajax (1) have scored fewer. There has been a team focus on working the ball wide as quickly as possible, be it to their advancing wingbacks or wide forwards on the counter-attack, to try to cross into the area quickly. There’s a 6ft 6ins reason for that – the towering figure of striker Tomáš Chorý. Having scored 20 goals last season, the Czech international is a physical handful, happy to get into it with opposition defenders – as Arsenal’s Gabriel found out recently, needing treatment on a first-half facial injury. Keep an eye out for defender Youssoupha Mbodji too, who had the instinct to get forward and meet two crosses for goals in the 2-2 draw with Bodø/Glimt.

Run Micky, run...

Micky van de Ven enjoyed an iconic Champions League goal with his rampaging run to score against Copenhagen on Matchday 4. But with Slavia Prague in their defensive shape, it wouldn’t hurt for the Dutchman to break forward in possession again and fragment their set up. Bodo/Glimt nearly scored from one such run – while Arsenal sent William Saliba into midfield from centre-back at times to add an extra body. Slavia also struggled with Athletic Club’s aggression out of possession in their last Champions League match (0-0), giving away the ball too often near their own box. “(Athletic Club) pressed us, not letting us get out, which helped them a lot,” explained head coach Jindřich Trpišovský post-match. “We struggled to recover second balls due to the quality of their players. They dealt with our style of play really well."

Key players...

This was a sentiment echoed by defender Štěpán Chaloupek upon full-time, who was full of praise for their goalkeeper after claiming a point against their visitors from Bilbao. "Thanks to Jindřich Staněk for his saves, especially after the mistakes in our build-up. He kept us in the game." Staněk made four big stops – and kept out a penalty in the opening league phase game against Bodø/Glimt. It’s a position they’re well covered in. Fellow goalkeeper Jakub Markovič was one of seven Slavia players in the latest Czechia squad. Others include Lukáš Provod, a mobile midfielder with an eye for a pass, former PSV man Michal Sadilek, who can unleash a dangerous left foot shot from distance, and David Doudera, a big offensive threat down the right side.