Tottenham vs. Stoke City
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
Tottenham Hotspur head into the Premier League encounter with Stoke City aware that they must end a run of four top-flight fixtures without a win if they want to maintain pace with their rivals in the race for a top-four spot in the standings.
Stoke ended their poor run of form last weekend with a 2-1 victory over Swansea City, and boss Mark Hughes will believe that his team can become the next lower-table side to take points off Spurs this season.
Mauricio Pochettino used Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with APOEL to rest a number of his first-team stars, and the game could not have come at a better moment with Spurs on the back foot for the first time in over a year.
The head coach has not had to field so many negative questions regarding his side since a period of two wins from eight top-flight fixtures towards the back end of 2016, and there has been a repeat occurrence with Spurs’ results dropping off ahead of the winter months.
Pochettino may put it down to coincidence, but the facts remain that Spurs have only collected five points from their last half-a-dozen matches in the Premier League, and it is a run which has effectively derailed their chances of winning the title.
Last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Watford was not the worst result, especially having played the majority of the second half with 10 men, but being held by West Bromwich Albion and losing 2-1 at Leicester City has left Spurs off the pace at an important time of the campaign.
Pochettino will hope that the likes of Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane have benefitted from a rest in midweek but while wasting chances in front of goal has been an issue, so has keeping just one clean sheet in their last seven league outings.
The form of Dele Alli remains a worry with the England international being ineffective against APOEL in midweek, but Pochettino’s main focus should be finding a way to cope without Davinson Sanchez – as well as the injured Toby Alderweireld – for their next three matches.
For a number of months, Hughes has appeared to be a couple of defeats away from his job at the Bet365 Stadium being in serious trouble, until a win leaves the Potters with breathing space between themselves and the relegation zone.
Stoke only sit in 13th place in the table, but three quarters of their points this season have come against teams who sit higher than the Staffordshire-based club in the standings. Before last weekend’s triumph over Swansea City, that record stood for all but one point they they had earned since the start of August.
Hughes will openly admit that they have to find a way to bridge the gap against the better teams away from home but talent-wise, Stoke are capable of putting in a performance to gain a result against their hosts today.
Tottenham Hotspur possible XI: Lloris, Dier, Vertonghen, Davies, Trippier, Winks, Dembele, Rose, Eriksen, Alli, Kane.
Stoke City possible XI: Butland, Zouma, Shawcross, Wimmer, Diouf, Allen, Fletcher, Pieters, Shaqiri, Choupo-Moting, Crouch.