Tim Sherwood reckons one Tottenham player will be ‘licking his lips’ for second leg

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Tim Sherwood has told Sky Sports that he believes Son Heung-min will have watched Tottenham Hotspur’s first-leg defeat to Ajax, and will be “licking his lips” ahead of the second leg.

Donny van de Beek’s 15th-minute opener saw Ajax secure an away goal, as he sprang the offside trap before finishing calmly past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Spurs were lucky it was only a 1-0 defeat.

Ajax dominated the first half and David Neres even hit the post in the second 45, when it was perhaps easier to score. It sees Spurs remain in the tie ahead next week’s second leg in Amsterdam.

Son was banned for the first leg of the semi-final after picking up a yellow card against Manchester City, and watched on from the stands. Former Spurs boss Sherwood believes Son could make the difference.

“Son is going to be a massive plus for them in the return leg,” Sherwood said. “Hopefully he gets through the next game [against Bournemouth], but they’re is space in behind and he can use his pace to get in behind.

“He’ll be licking his lips, thinking they are fantastic with the ball but out of possession they do give you chances. Son will capitalise on that. The game is not dead, Tottenham can go over there and they can score.”

TBR’s view

Son was an enormous miss from Tuesday night’s clash, with Spurs devoid of any real goal threat. Fernando Llorente struggled for much of the night, while Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli were significantly below par.

With Harry Kane and Erik Lamela also injured, it left Spurs with little option from the bench to freshen things up. Mauricio Pochettino could only bring on Juan Foyth and Ben Davies.

Can Spurs still win it? Yes, but it is going to be a tall order. Having £140k-a-week (Spotrac) star Son is only going to help, though.