Tottenham v Stoke Preview & Lineups

Stoke City come to visit on Sunday as Tottenham attempt to once again jump start themselves after a slump in form.

The last such attempt came a week ago, when Mauricio Pochettino named a strong Tottenham team to take on the Championship’s Fulham. A 3-0 win resulted, but it didn’t generate quite the desired momentum.

Pochettino again named a strong XI for the must-win second leg against Gent on Thursday. Unfortunately the scrappy Belgians capitalized on Spurs’ mistakes — an own-goal and a red card — to win the tie and progress.

With just two competitions left to compete in and morale presumably low, Pochettino likely didn’t have to ask any player to start here against Stoke. Tottenham need to reclaim the form that took them back into the Champions League hunt, and it begins with Sunday’s match.

It’s hardly a surprise then that the identical XI start today as started Thursday.

Once again, it looks as if Spurs will play in the 3-4-2-1 formation that brought them so much success previously.

Of particular note, one might imagine, will be the performances of Harry Kane and Dele Alli. Those two are the perpetrators of the two mistakes that crippled Spurs against Gent, and might be particularly keen to make an impact Sunday even on little rest.

The key here will be the wing-backs though. Though the bulk of their responsibilities and impact will be going forward, they will also have to deal with Stoke’s considerable wide threat.

Marko Arnautović and Ramadan Sobhi both start for the visitors, and they will look to exploit the space left in behind Tottenham’s wing-backs. Kyle Walker and Ben Davies will have to remain vigilant and prevent that Stoke pair from sending dangerous crosses in for Peter Crouch to knock down.

It’s a tactical set Stoke manager Mark Hughes has found success with of late, and represents a sea change from his usually more progressive approaches to the game. Indeed, with his team populated mostly by Tony Pulis-era signings, it is simply pragmatism to combine the best of both worlds. Check out our feature on Hughes’ reshuffling here.

The bulk of Spurs’ effort will be breaking through Stoke’s backline. As we noted yesterday, Stoke haven’t conceded more than one goal in a Premier League match thus far in 2017. Tottenham, meanwhile, are struggling to get shots away.

Next: Tottenham Looking to Bounce Back Against Stoke

Come back after the match for a full report on the proceedings and a snap analysis on Spurs’ performance.