Stoke City vs Tottenham Hotspur – English Premier League – Preview

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Sreya

Stoke City hosts Tottenham Hotspur at the Britannia Stadium on 18th April, Monday in their thirty-fourth English Premier League fixture of the season. Struggling with injuries, Mark Hughes’ side will look to halt Tottenham’s good stretch of form to ensure a place in the top half of the Premier League table.

Tottenham are on the second position in league table with sixty five points, behind league leaders Leicester City with eighteen wins. Stoke City are on the ninth position with forty seven points courtesy their thirteen wins.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Manchester United in their last game in a convincing fashion with a 3-0 scoreline while Stoke City lost to Liverpool in a 4-1 drubbing at the Anfield.

Team News

Jack Butland, Glen Johnson, Jonathan Walters and Marc Wilson are sidelined through injuries while Marko Arnautovic and Glenn Whelan are doubtful. Erik Pieters is suspended, with Marc Muniesa set to replace him in the starting lineup.

Tottenham will be without the injured Nabil Bentaleb and the unfit Clinton N’Jie. Harry Kane is set to undertake a late fitness test, but is likely to start.

Stoke City Possible Starting Lineup: Jakob Haugaard, Phil Bardsley, Ryan Shawcross, Philipp Wollscheid, Marc Muniesa, Giannelli Imbula, Geoff Cameron, Xherdan Shaquiri, Bojan, Marko Arnautovic, Joselu.

Tottenham Hotspur Possible Starting Lineup: Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Moussa Demebele, Erik Lamela, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“There are five games to go and we want to finish in the right manner. Three at home, two away – we have a great opportunity to achieve things. It is Monday night under the lights at the Britannia. We are really looking forward to that.”

– Mark Hughes, Stoke City.

“It is a healthy competition between teams that want to win and achieve big things and it is good in football. We got 3-0 against United and the belief again for all the week to prepare for Stoke.”

– Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham Hotspur.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, Tottenham Hotspur have won three and lost two of their previous six encounters with Stoke City. Moreover, Tottenham are undefeated in fourteen of their last fifteen away matches in the Premier League.

Stoke City have scored at least two goals in their last three matches against Tottenham Hotspur in all competitions, so it should be a high-scoring affair. Tottenham Hotspur are likely to win, with a 2-1 result in favor of the visitors being the most likely outcome.