Ademola Lookman and Atlético Madrid travel to the north side of London for their UEFA Champions League round of 16 second-leg clash with Tottenham on Wednesday.
Following a tense first-leg encounter at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, which finished 5-2, Spurs now have a mountain to climb.
Nigerians back home and punters who track the performances of Nigerian talents abroad have their sights set on this encounter.
Simeone to unleash Lookman in London
At the weekend, Diego Simeone’s Atletico de Madrid got a deserved one-nil victory over Getafe at home courtesy of a Nahuel Molina wonder strike in the 8th minute of the encounter.
Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman was however given a subtle rest, starting on the bench against the Los Azulones alongside stars like Antoine Griezmann, Julian Alvarez and Giuliano Simeone.
The 28-year-old came on for Thiago Almada in the 66th minute, helping the Los Colchoneros secure their 17th league win of the 2025/2026 season.
One of his first contributions was a brilliant pass inside the box to Julián Álvarez, who shot towards goal, but a Getafe defender made a goal-line clearance
Lookman also tried his luck from outside the eighteen-yard area with a shot from the edge of the box, but the effort went wide of the post.
By the end of the fixture, the 2024 CAF Player of the Year had completed 11 passes, nine of them accurate, also having one shot and created one big chance during his time on the pitch.
On Wednesday, it’s most likely that Lookman will start the game against Spurs and have the opportunity to end his six-game goal drought.
Spurs have found it hard to secure a win, getting just two wins in 16 games played since the new year, and this is mid-March already.
Fun fact, their two wins have come only against teams in the UEFA Champions League, but a tournament that seemed to be their solace has turned sour.
Their 5-2 loss to Atletico last week means that they have just a 10% chance of progressing to the quarterfinals of Europe’s premier club competition.
By overseeing the loss, Tudor became the first Tottenham manager to lose each of his first four games in charge, while Spurs also suffered six straight defeats in all competitions for the first time ever.
The Lillywhites were however fortunate to halt a six-game losing streak by securing a one-all draw at Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday.
A comeback is not written against them, but Spurs will need to avoid conceding and scoring four goals to qualify ahead of the visitors.
Spurs keeping a cleansheet is like Uzbekistan winning the FIFA World Cup, not possible and even stats back this claim.
The last time Spurs prevented a team from scoring was on New Year’s Day against Brentford at the G-Tech stadium, 15 games later no cleansheet recorded yet.
Against this shaky backline, Lookman is expected to feast.
Team News
Tottenham are experiencing a torrid season, even more so due to suspension and injury worries that have refused to stop happening.
Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha are also absent after a nasty clash of heads in the first leg, while Yves Bissouma (unspecified) is definitely out, Destiny Udogie (thigh) will not be ready yet, and Conor Gallagher (illness) is 50-50.
Long-term absentees Lucas Bergvall (ankle), Ben Davies (ankle), Mohammed Kudus (thigh), Rodrigo Bentancur (thigh), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), James Maddison (knee) and Wilson Odobert (knee) are no closer to returning, so Tottenham could be missing as many as 12 players for Atletico’s visit.
The visitors only actually have one player out through injury, with Rodrigo Mendoza missing due to a muscular problem, but no fresh issues were reported pre-Spurs.
Ademola Lookman, Julian Alvarez, Giuliano Simeone, Marcos Llorente and Antoine Griezmann are set to be among those picking up their starting berths after getting a rest over the weekend.
Betting Perspective for Tottenham vs Atletico Madrid
With the state of things in the defensive line of Tottenham, goals are guaranteed, nothing less than two, and even the visitors can almost lose their minds, as they did at Camp Nou in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal.
Here are stats you should consider as a punter:
- Spurs score an average of 2.11 goals and concede 1.33 per game
- Atletico score an average of 2.64 goals and concede 1.91 per game.
- We can tip BTTS because both teams are struggling to keep things tight at the back
- Tottenham have failed to keep a cleansheet across 15 games in 2026
- Atletico in the UCL have found it hard to shut down heir defense.
Key tips for Punters
- Dominic Solanke looks like value in the goal scoring market with three strikes to his name in six Champions League matches
- The visitors are crossing their fingers that Alexander Sørloth adds to his five Champions League goals come this coming Wednesday
- Atletico Madrid won four of their last 10 games away, while drawing four, and losing two. Atletico Madrid managed four wins without conceding a goal in their previous 10 matches away from home.
- Tottenham claimed a modest two wins from their previous 10 home matches across all tournaments. They drew two of the games, whilst losing six.
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