Mauricio Pochettino is facing a difficult decision over Harry Kane ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s crucial Champions League game in Monaco on Tuesday night.

Spurs have to win to have any plausible chance of reaching the last-16. Pochettino knows that they are very unlikely to win without Kane, whose return from injury has significantly improved the team this month. But Pochettino does not want to risk another injury to his most important player, with a Premier League trip to Chelsea on Saturday evening.

Pochettino said at his press conference on Monday evening that he will only play Kane if he is fully fit, and will apply the same test to Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele. But Pochettino must also know that without those three, or even just without Kane, Spurs’ chances of playing Europa League football next year dramatically spike.

“I think it's a game we must win, and we need to find a way to do it,” said Pochettino, weighing up his options. “We need to be clever, follow our plan and try to win. Take risks or not take risks? Football is about balance.”

“Our selection will depend on whether players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Moussa Dembele can play 90 minutes or not. We don't want to take risks with them.”

The concern for Pochettino is that Spurs are a different team with and without Kane. They looked lost during Kane’s seven weeks out with an ankle injury, with Vincent Janssen failing to give Spurs that same powerful direct threat up front.

But Kane returned for the Arsenal game, and scored Spurs’ equaliser. Then, on Saturday, he played 90 minutes and scored twice as Spurs turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win in the final minutes. But if he were to aggravate his injury again then Spurs would be back to square one going into a difficult period of league games.



Pochettino also knows that Monaco played their Ligue 1 game at Lorient on Friday night, which they won 3-0, meaning that they are better equipped for this game than Spurs, who played on Saturday and flew over on Monday.