Tottenham Hotspur must consider giving Kieran Trippier a rest ahead of the Champions League.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Serge Aurier let himself down in the Champions League first leg against Juventus.
He was controversially selected ahead of Kieran Trippier and went on to give away a penalty and later on picked up a yellow card which rules him out of the second leg.
This could work out in Tottenham’s favour, but they need to get to this point with Trippier intact.
Tottenham’s next decision then should be to consider giving Trippier a three game rest until the Juventus fixture.
This would see him miss matches against Crystal Palace (a), Rochdale (h) and Huddersfield (h).
Tottenham should be able to get through these without Trippier, especially if Aurier can step up his game.
Right now the risk is too high if Trippier picked up an injury to have him unavailable for the second leg against Juventus.
An injury would mean having to select youngster Kyle Walker-Peters, and while he has so far stood up to the tests put in front of him, playing against Juventus might be a test too far this early.
It might be an idea to give Walker-Peters a run out against Rochdale in case he is needed, but protecting Trippier must be the priority for Spurs between now and March 7.
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