Tottenham v Villarreal: Line-ups, stats and preview

Thomas Frank allowed himself and his players 24 hours to celebrate their 3-0 win over West Ham on Saturday and the Tottenham manager expects his debut as a coach in the Champions League to be “very exciting”.

“We go again,” Frank told Spurs Play after his side moved third in the Premier League with victory at the London Stadium.

“You never take wins for granted – even though we want to win a lot [of games] – because it hurts so much when you lose.”

Frank described Xavi Simons’s debut as “promising” following the Netherlands midfielder’s £52 million arrival from Leipzig.

Simons reportedly decided to leave the German club because of their failure to reach the Champions League, in which the 22-year-old contributed two goals and two assists in eight appearances in 2023/24.

Europa League holders Spurs return to the Champions League for the first time since their run to the last 16 in 2022/23, while Villarreal last featured the previous season, losing both legs of their semi-final against Liverpool.

The Yellow Submarine are fifth in Spain and seeking their first win in three matches following their 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid on Saturday, when some of manager Marcelino’s tactical decisions after Atleti’s second goal were influenced by the trip to Tottenham.