Tottenham vs Stoke City
English Premier League
Date: Sunday, 26th February 2017
Kick off: 13:30 UK/ 14:30 CET
Venue: White Hart Lane, London.
The confines of Wembley have not been too kind to Tottenham Hotspur this campaign and neither has the month of February. Spurs crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday and while their play was much improved from other “home” performances in the Champions League, they were still wildly unsuccessful in their prospective 2017-18 home.
To add further salt to the wound, their draw to Gent at Wembley reversed what was an inspired victory against Fulham in the FA Cup. While it hasn’t been October panic type play from the lilywhites, a subpar win against Middlebrough, coupled with a shellacking by Liverpool at Anfield, and one point from two matches against the Juliper League’s eighth placed Gent is disheartening at best.
All is not lost though and some including Cartilage Free Captain’s most active Tyrannical Overlord, Dustin Menno, believe that Spurs’ ousting from the Europa League might be a blessing in disguise. And a quick glance at the Premier League table should confirm the notion that supporters should not panic. Spurs sit third in the standings, ahead of Arsenal by superior goal differential and just two points off second placed Manchester City. Sure, it is incredibly tight between the second and sixth places, yet with a record of fourteen wins, three losses, eight draws, and the second best goal differential in the Premier league, Tottenham doesn’t have much to complain about.
Spurs will face ninth placed Stoke City on Sunday in a match that feels like a must-win from a morale standpoint. Stoke’s high spot in the table betrays their rather pedestrian form this season, which has seen them consistently win points from the lower half, but flop in nearly every encounter against a top side. Their best results have come as draws; two against Manchester United and one at home against Everton, but they haven’t mustered three points against anyone impressive through seven months of the 2016-17 campaign.
Even under the stewardship of Mark Hughes, Stoke remain a threat in the air and this is where they have produced most of their goals this term. An utter dearth of creativity in the center of the park breeds a team that doesn’t threaten from open play and struggles mightily to possess the ball in general. Joe Allen and the back four of Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, and Pieters haven’t been bad, but they aren’t enough to hold most sides at bay. Peter Crouch looks set to start, with Saido Berahino as a potential substitute to make way at some point up front. Wilson Palacios might also be a last minute signing to start instead of Charlie Adam, who won’t be able to feature due to the restraining order placed upon him from the entirety of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
Spurs now have only two competitions to focus on and many of their most difficult fixtures in the Premier League are behind them. That doesn’t mean that they don’t need to find form fast. The team has done enough to put themselves in a great position in the table. They control their own destiny going forward and now its time to take those opportunities as they come. It starts with Stoke City on Sunday.
Projected Lineup
Danny Rose’s MCL has found itself to be a more of a concern than initially thought and our stalwart left-back is set to miss “weeks” on the sideline. He will join Erik Lamela on the bench who is still rehabbing his mysterious hip injury and has no timetable to return to training. I can’t believe that I am still writing on this.
The big news over the past week was the return of Jan Vertonghen. After his tough ankle injury in January, which was rumored to put him our for nearly two months, the Belgian vice-captain returned to action against both Fulham and Gent. The Gent match was more interesting in the sense that Poche put forth a best eleven lineup at Wembley, which included Jan, and saw the team revert back to the 3-4-3. Harry Kane’s awful own goal and Dele Alli’s unexpected (and vicious) red saw Tottenham fail to advance, but their play was more encouraging than it has been for the majority of the last month.
Due to this, I think Poche continues with the 3-4-3 on Sunday. Kyle Walker will start at right wing-back, with Ben Davies deputizing for the injured Danny Rose in the left wing-back spot. Alderweireld will be flanked by Eric Dier and Jan Vertonghen in the back three, with Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembélé playing ahead of them in the center of midfield. Christian Eriksen will be deployed out left, Dele Alli out right, and Harry Kane will occupy the lone striker role.
Tottenham vs Stoke City: Key Stats
Tottenham maintains a 12 league games at the White Hart Lane, winning 10, and sharing points in 2. However, the North London side have lost twice in their last 5 competitive games.
Stoke city tasted defeat once in their last 5 league games, but only managed to 1 win in their last 5 away league games.
Tottenham: Team News
Maurico Pochettino will be missing the services of Danny rose for spurs 6th consecutive competitive games; the English defender is recovering from a knee injury. Erik Lamela will also be unavailable for this clash due to illness, the Argentine forward have been unavailable for selection since October 2016 due.
Tottenham: Predicted Line-Up (4-2-3-1)
Lloris: Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Davies: Dembele, Wanyama- Eriksen, Alli, Son: Kane.
Stoke City: Team News
Stoke City defender Phillip Bardsley is a big doubt for this game, after he was substituted in the potter’s last league games at the Bet365 stadium. Moreover, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Geoff Cameron are possible doubt for stoke visit to London, while veteran Midfielders is surely going to miss the game due to knee injury.
Stoke City: Predicted Line-Up (4-2-3-1)
Grant: Johnson, Shawcross, Martin-Indi, Pieters: Whelan, Adam- Arnautovic, Allen, Sobhi: Crouch.
Tottenham vs Stoke City: Head To Head Statistics
Tottenham enjoyed an easy ride in the opening leg of this tie; Spurs scored 4 unreplied goals as they disgraced Stoke at the Bet365 stadium.
Moreover, Tottenham has 5 wins compared to stoke city in the last 10 league games between them. In addition, Stoke city have failed to taste defeat in the last 2 visit to the White Hart Lane, and lost once in their last 5 visit to the London based club.
Tottenham vs Stoke City: Predictions
Tottenham remain the only side that have failed to taste defeat at home this season. The North London side dropped points twice in their first 12 league game at home, conceding 5 goals and scoring 25 goals in those 12 home game. On the other hand, Stoke city scooped a low 3 point out of possible 15 from their last 5 league away games.
Therefore, I will predict a slim margin win for Tottenham.
Tottenham vs Stoke City: Bet Tips
Spurs to win to nil at 11/8 (2.37).
