Tottenham vs. AC Milan: Team News, Key Battle, Live Stream, TV Info
Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan meet on Wednesday for the first time since the Premier League outfit knocked the Serie A side out of the 2010-11 Champions League. At stake on this occasion is the less glamorous prize of third place in the Munich-hosted Audi Cup tournament.
While respective defeats to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have denied them the chance to compete for some pre-season silverware, both will be keen to fine-tune their preparations with the season proper getting closer. Especially Tottenham, who begin their campaign against Manchester United this Saturday lunchtime.
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Goals by James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale dispatched the Lillywhites in the first of Tuesday's contests. Juan Bernat, Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski saw off the Rossoneri to confirm Bayern's place in the final.
Both Spurs and Milan will be keen to reinforce their preparations and record at least one win to match one of their exalted conquerors.
Date: Wednesday, August 5
Time: 5:15 p.m. BST/12:15 p.m. ET
Venue: Allianz Arena
TV Info: Premier Sports (U.K. only)/ESPN2 (U.S. only)
Live Stream: Premier Player (U.K. only)/WatchESPN (U.S. only)
Form Lines
| Tottenham Hotspur | AC Milan |
| Pre-season (Audi Cup), August 4: Real Madrid (a)—Loss: 2-0 | Pre-season (Audi Cup), August 4: Bayern Munich (a)—Loss: 3-0 |
| Pre-season, July 30: MLS All-Stars (a)—Loss: 2-1 | Pre-season (International Champions Cup), July 30: Real Madrid (a)—Loss: 0-0 (on penalties) |
| Pre-season, July 23: Brentford (h)—Win: 2-1 | Pre-season (International Champions Cup), July 25: Internazionale (a)—Win: 1-0 |
| Pre-season, July 20: Reading (h)—Win: 1-0 | Pre-season, July 18: Olympique Lyonnais (a)—Loss: 2-1 |
| Pre-season, July 13: Southend United (h)—Win: 4-0 | Pre-season, July 14: Legnano (a)—Win: 5-1 |
Team News
Tottenham had not reported any new injury concerns at the time of writing on Tuesday night. It remains unclear if Hugo Lloris—who did travel with the club to Germany but was not part of the matchday squad to face Real Madrid—will be deemed ready for Wednesday evening.
Cristian Zapata and M'Baye Niang were both substituted with injuries during AC Milan's defeat to Bayern Munich. Their statuses were also uncertain as of midnight Wednesday.
Predicting pre-season lineups is challenging enough, given the mandate for experimentation this time of year. Given both bosses in this fixture are having to juggle their resources for a second match in two days, please excuse not trying to pin down these starting XIs here.
Sinisa Mihajlovic at least does not have to worry about a big season-opening fixture within just a few days, as is the case for his counterpart, Mauricio Pochettino. Though, prior to the tournament, Spurs assistant head coach Jesus Perez tried to cast the quick turnover in a positive light (publicly at least).
"The is the final week before start of the Premier League, and the Audi Cup will be a great test as we try to get into a rhythm before we play Manchester United on Saturday," he told Tottenham's official website.
Tottenham Hotspur Player to Watch: Dele Alli
Having started him against Real Madrid, Pochettino may limit Alli to a substitute appearance on Wednesday. That will be better than nothing for Spurs supporters, given even more reason to be excited about the 19-year-old midfielder following his confident performance against the La Liga runners-up.
As against the MLS All-Stars last week, Alli got up and down the pitch well, combined positively with his team-mates and showed good positional sense when entering the penalty box. Coming against Real there was an extra sense of wonder about the display, emphasised most delightfully by the way he skillfully maneuvered past former Spur Luka Modric in the opening 15 minutes.
It may just be a brief run-out versus Milan, but any chance to watch the promising (very) early progress of Alli at Tottenham should be taken.
AC Milan Player to Watch: Keisuke Honda
Hoping to be a central figure in new boss Mihajlovic's set up, Honda had a tough time standing out amid the oppressive attentions of an unrelenting Bayern side.
The Bundesliga champions repeatedly stopped the playmaker in his tracks, surrounding him almost every time a hint of an opening appeared. He was not alone here, but Milan suffered for his lack of involvement.
If Honda features against Tottenham, he should have more time to operate.
Certainly, if Milan catch them pushing numbers forward, the Japan international will be in prime position to execute the swift transitions Real Madrid got some joy out of on Tuesday. But also against a defensive midfield setup that showed hesitancy to commit to closing down the Spanish club in front of their own penalty area.
Key Battle: Can Tottenham's Defence Show More Responsibility Against Resilient Rossoneri Attack?
The Milan attack will fancy their chances against a Tottenham defence that, based on their two non-behind-closed-door friendlies, look very much a work in progress.
For the second time in two matches, Spurs conceded as a result of loose marking and lax attention from their back four.
Kyle Walker allowed Isco too much room to cut back in from the left and cross. With centre-backs Toby Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer drawn to the Real midfielder, James Rodriguez was able to pop up between Eric Dier and Danny Rose and head home his team-mate's centre unchallenged.
David Villa scored for the MLS All-Stars last week amid similar neglect from Spurs' centre-backs. Pochettino is understandably looking at different combinations in his back four. That will mean some hiccups as new team-mates figure each other out.
Nonetheless, it should still be alarming to the Argentinian that his defenders are failing to take responsibility for the presence of nearby opponents. It was a major issue last season and will be again if they are not careful.
With a game coming up against a Manchester United team that put three past them in March, Spurs' defence could do with a more formidable, confidence-boosting showing against Milan. That will be easier said than done.
Similarly to Honda, Luiz Adriano and Carlos Bacca struggled to get anything going against Bayern. Yet there was a pleasing resilience about Bacca in particular, continuing to run at the home team and to try to force something.
The multinational Rossoneri attack should not be so easily stifled by Spurs before they reach the final third. The North Londoners' rearguard has to be better prepared when they arrive.
Odds (via OddsChecker)
Tottenham Win: 9-to-5
AC Milan Win: 7-to-5
Draw: 12-to-5
