Stoke City face an uphill task when they visit White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs have been brilliant at home so far in the league, collecting 32 points from 12 games, which is second best only to Chelsea. Stoke’s away form, on the other hand, hasn’t been very encouraging as the Potters have collected only 12 points from 12 away games.
Spurs now have the ignominy of being knocked out of Europe twice after Gent got the better of them on aggregate. While the exit would have hurt them badly and raised suspicion regarding their European credentials and mentality, Pochettino would, as of now, prefer looking at the positives. And one of it is the undivided attention they can pay to their quest of trying to push Chelsea all the way and secure their Top 4 place at the very least.
Stoke City are up against it and if they happen to fall in the way of a vengeful Spurs side who will be recovering after a difficult couple of results, we might well see a one-sided affair.
TRIVIA
- Spurs have won their last two Premier League meetings with Stoke by a 4-0 scoreline. However, both of these games have been at the Bet365 Stadium.
- Should they win again by at least four goals, it will be the fourth occasion a team has registered a 4+ goal margin in three consecutive PL games against the same opponent.
- Stoke are unbeaten in their last two league games at White Hart Lane (W1 D1 L0) – they’ve never gone three in a row without defeat there in their history.
- There hasn’t been a red card in any of the last three Premier League meetings between these sides – the longest run without one in this fixture since Stoke were promoted in 2008.
- Of any Premier League fixture to have been played 15+ times – this has produced the highest average of red cards per game (8 in total – 0.47 per game).
- Both Dele Alli and Harry Kane have scored three goals in their last two league games against Stoke.
- Harry Kane has scored 10 goals in his last nine appearances for Tottenham in domestic competition (League & FA Cup).
- Stoke have won only one of their last 20 Premier League games in London (D7 L12), with that solitary win arriving at White Hart Lane in November 2014 (2-1).
- Spurs have kept the most number of clean sheets at home in the Premier League this season (8).
TEAM NEWS & PREDICTED LINE-UPS
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (3-4-2-1)
Tottenham have no new injury problems after their embarrassing midweek Europa League exit. Left-back Danny Rose and midfielder Erik Lamela both remain on the sidelines.
Lloris; Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies; Alli, Eriksen; Kane
STOKE CITY (4-2-3-1)
Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri could return after missing three weeks with an injury. Manager Mark Hughes may give Saido Berahino his first start for the club after the player made a couple of appearances as a substitute.
Grant; Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi; Pieters; Whelan, Adam; Sobhi, Allen, Arnautovic; Berahino
BETTING ODDS
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR- 4/9
DRAW- 4/1
STOKE CITY- 13/2
TRIVIA COURTESY- OPTA
