Tottenham team news for Villarreal clash as Thomas Frank ponders two headaches

Tottenham Hotspur are gearing up for a long-awaited return to the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, and Thomas Frank has a big job in picking his starting XI for the game.

Spurs will take on Villarreal at 8pm on Tuesday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium following their Europa League triumph last season, with the aim of making it four wins from five in Frank's early tenure as boss. The Lilywhites defeated Manchester United 1-0 in the final to lift their first trophy in 17 years.

Now, new boss Frank will be looking to do one better than Ange Postecoglou and push Spurs to the pinnacle of European glory in the Champions League. However, the Dane will have a bit of a selection headache ahead of the opening game of the campaign, with a few important stars missing.

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Spurs beat London rivals West Ham United 3-0 at the weekend thanks to second-half goals from Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven. A Tomas Soucek red card in the 54th minute helped the away team on their quest for victory, but there was some trouble for Frank to contend with before the match even began.

For Spurs' 1-0 loss to Bournemouth prior to the international break, Dominic Solanke was left out of the matchday squad due to an ankle issue, as confirmed by the manager. It seems as though he wasn't able to shake off the problem, as Frank told the media ahead of the trip to the London Stadium that he wouldn't be available.

He said: "Everyone returned from international duty well. Always positive, very happy about that. Dom will not be available still, I don't expect it to be too long but he will not be available for this game.

"I think right now we are doing everything we can – the medical team - to get on top of it and that’s what we’re focusing on. I get a feeling he is not too far away, but he’s just fallen short for this week."

This means Solanke will now be racing for fitness to appear in his first Champions League game for Tottenham, but while Frank believes he isn't "too far away," Villarreal may be a bit too soon for the English striker.

Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, and James Maddison are all unavailable for the foreseeable future due to significant injuries, leaving Frank with few attacking options. Xavi Simons made his first appearance for the Lilywhites on Saturday, providing the assist for the team's first goal and impressing in 71 minutes of action.

He was pushed out to the left wing to accommodate 19-year-old Bergvall, who proved his worth in his manager's decision to select him for the game, scoring and assisting to lead the team to victory. While Simons is more suited to an attacking midfielder role, Bergvall shone in this position on Saturday and looks to have done enough to receive the nod on Tuesday night.

Richarlisonand Mathys Tel seem to be Frank's current striking options - with Solanke out for the time being - and both were given minutes against West Ham, with Tel handed the starting position over the Brazilian.

However, the Frenchman isn't in Spurs' squad for the Champions League, so it is likely Richarlison will gain this starting spot back without much of a fight. Sarr and Mohamed Kudus look to be operating the right-hand side well with Pedro Porro shoring up the defensive duties at right-back, with new England international Djed Spence handling the left full-back role with ease.

Guglielmo Vicario is one Spurs star who looks to have nailed on his starting spot between the sticks, alongside captain Cristian Romero and his centre-back partner Van de Ven. With some choices to be made in midfield and up front, Frank may well see the confidence growing in his squad from their victory over West Ham and choose to stick with this plan for their next match.

However, some impressive players remained on the bench during the Premier League win - including Rodrigo Bentancur and Randal Kolo Muani - with Brennan Johnson and Destiny Udogie making sub appearances to gain minutes.

Speaking after the match, Frank was honest about resting some important players ahead of the Champions League opener, but admitted rotation will be key to success for Spurs this season.

Praising the ability to change up his squad and still get results, the 51-year-old said: "I think it's extremely important. It's important that I trust my players. Of course, they need to perform and train well and show the right attitude and all that, but they do and they train well. So, I have the privilege to, for example, rest Rodri [Bentancur].

"Of course, he could have played today, but he played two 90 minutes, he landed [from South America] Thursday morning. So, I'm not too worried about this, but what about Tuesday? What about the next one? And they can't play 70 games, all of them, all the time. Rodri is a key player for us. Richy is the same.

"He could have started but also played in 4,000m height against Bolivia and so on, and then others have done well. Lucas, look how he came on the pitch, and how he performed as well. I think Mathys, very impressive, the performance was maybe not through the roof, but it was very solid, I would say 7/10, worked hard, pressing, constant pressing, and that's very good also. You know he's not in the Champions League squad. I'm very happy with the squad."

Much of Frank's side picks itself, with the midfield providing the most headaches both centrally and out on the left. Bergvall's form maintains his place in our predicted team, with Sarr the unfortunate one to drop out.

Tottenham predicted XI vs Villarreal

(4-2-3-1) Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Bentancur; Kudus, Bergvall, Simons; Richarlison.