5 players who will decide Tottenham vs. Eintracht Frankfurt | OneFootball

After battling past AZ Alkmaar, Tottenham will defend North London in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals against one of the Bundesliga's most consistent sides, Eintracht Frankfurt. Even with star man Omar Marmoush now at Manchester City, Eintracht still have plenty of talent to give Spurs, who are struggling in the Premier League, plenty to worry about.

I mean, if you match up these two teams and where they are at in their league tables, Tottenham are actually the underdogs here despite having more well-known players and a bigger budget. But with all that has gone into this team, an elimination would be a grave disappointment for an already under-fire Ange Postecoglou.

Here are five players to watch closely on Thursday night at Tottenham Hotspur stadium when Tottenham and Frankfurt go to battle.

Tottenham CB Cristian Romero

There aren't many center backs in the Premier League who are as good as Cristian Romero, and although things have fallen apart for Tottenham this season under Ange Postecoglou, we can't forget both how excellent Romero was in his first season with Big Ange and how good he was in the past for both Tottenham and his clubs in Serie A.

Romero is one of the best defenders in the world at making plays on the ball, whether it's winning possession defensively or even creating chances - and finishing them off. He's a well-rounded center back who can win you games, and Tottenham will need the Argentinian international to go out there and win them some games in the Europa League knockouts.

What makes Romero an even important important player to watch is the fact that he'll be tasked with marking Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, who is an extremely fluid player off the ball and as difficult of a player as there is in German football to keep quiet.

Eintracht Frankfurt ST Hugo Ekitike

Hugo Ekitike could very well be a Tottenham transfer target at the striker position this summer, and even North London rivals Arsenal are keen on making the Frenchman their future No. 9. A summer 2025 transfer to the Premier League appears likely for Ekitike, but Tottenham won't be scouting or watching the striker with admiration this Thursday.

Their task is simply to stop Frankfurt's leading man, though there is certainly nothing simple about coping with the languid No. 9. Ekitike is a very well-rounded striker who scores and creates. He is one of the best dribblers at the position, and Tottenham are going to need all four of their defenders

Tottenham CM Rodrigo Bentancur

Against a team like Eintracht Frankfurt that loves to counter and play fast on the attacking end, Tottenham are going to need to make sure they control the midfield battle and are assured in their coverage of space off the ball when defending transitions.

So from a tactical perspective, there may not be a more important player for Tottenham than Rodrigo Bentancur, who, at his best, is a solid midfielder and Spurs' best anchoring player almost by default. Bentancur kind of fell out of favor at Juventus at the end, but he quickly latched on at Tottenham and became a key figure, though his importance did wane a bit due to injury.

This season, Bentancur has started six games for Spurs in the Europa League and has been good all-around both defensively and offensively with his ball progression. Tottenham will hope Bentancur is at his best on Thursday night when supporting the back line.

Eintracht Frankfurt AM Hugo Larsson

All eyes will be on Ekitike - and for good reason - but Eintracht Frankfurt have another young gem worth watching closely in young midfielder Hugo Larsson. He's been playing a more attacking role lately for Frankfurt, which should ring some alarm bells for a Tottenham defense that hasn't been as shutdown as it should be this season.

Larsson is an intelligent young player with a good all-around skill-set who knows how to get into space in between the defensive and midfield lines. He is the next in an impressive lineage of Frankfurt attacking midfielders, which includes Jesper Lindstrom and Daichi Kamada.

In all honesty, Larsson is the best of these three, because he has the best football IQ and the skill-set most suited to the modern game. Tottenham will have to be prepared to fight a lot of scrappy duels in their own half against Larsson, who covers a lot of ground and is very effective as a playmaker around the penalty area.

Tottenham GK Guglielmo Vicario

A healthy Guglielmo Vicario is a gift from above for Tottenham. After dominating Serie A for underdogs Empoli, Vicario has proven a lot of misguided Premier League fans wrong by stepping in and succeeding as the heir to Hugo Lloris, which was undoubtedly a very difficult task.

The margin of error in the Europa League knockouts is slim, and Tottenham have a great equalizer in Vicario. Both teams have solid, experienced European goalkeepers, and Vicario means an awful lot to Spurs. He will be called to make a couple of big saves this week, and if he can stand up to the task, he could bail Spurs out in a big way. Frankfurt love to shoot on the break, and they'll surely have a few big chances in this one, even on the road.