It's a huge evening for Antonio Conte and his Tottenham side as they look to seal their place in the knockout phase of the Champions League. Top of Group D going into their final match away at Marseille, Spurs only need a point to progress through to the next stage of the competition.
However, it won't be straight forward as all four teams in the group can still progress, with bottom club Marseille able to leapfrog Tottenham in the standings by beating them. Spurs will certainly go into the match in a confident mood following last Saturday's sensational turnaround at Bournemouth, but they will have to make do without three key players once again.
Despite warming up on the pitch away from the team on Saturday at the Vitality, Dejan Kulusevski is not available for selection. The Swede will be joined on the sidelines by both Cristian Romero and Richarlison, with assistant head coach Cristian Stellini confirming the news when speaking to the media in Marseille on Monday evening.
READ MORE: Marseille vs Tottenham LIVE: Kick-off time, TV channel, confirmed team news and goal updates
So why exactly are the trio missing? A hamstring injury is still keeping Kulusevski out of action after sustaining the issue on Sweden international duty in September. Conte did recently admit that the worry is that the player does not return until after the World Cup, with this evening's game at Marseille the tenth fixture he has missed since picking up the injury.
Richarlison's absence is down to the calf injury he suffered in Spurs' 2-0 win over Everton midway through last month. Coming off early in the second half and leaving the stadium in tears with his World Cup hopes up in the air, Conte revealed a couple of days later that the player would be fit for the tournament, but he would require a bit of time to recover.
In regards to Romero, the head coach told football.london ahead of the Bournemouth fixture that Spurs took a "big, big risk" playing the Argentina international against Sporting CP last Wednesday following his absence a few days earlier against Newcastle United due to fatigue in his calf. At the Vitality Stadium at the weekend but missing out on the squad completely, he will have to watch on from the side once again.
Conte and Spurs will be hoping that all three can at least play some part for the team before football pauses for the World Cup. Premier League home games against Liverpool and Leeds United are to come on either side of a Carabao Cup tie away at Nottingham Forest.
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