Tottenham Hotspur vs Stoke City – December 9 Wembley Stadium – 15:00hrs
Tottenham continued their winless run of 4 games with a 1-1 draw against Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday.To make matters worse, center-back Davinson Sanchez was red-carded in the Watford clash and the 21-year old Colombian will miss not just miss Saturday’s home clash against Stoke City but the crucial Etihad test against Manchester City on the 16th of this month. Mauricio Pochettino’s defensive woes will compound, what with Toby Alderweireld out through injury for some time. Which means he will have to play Eric Dier and Jan Vertonghen in the heart of the defense along with Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies on the right and left. Spurs as usual created a lot of goal-scoring opportunities, but lacked finish. Harry Kane’s poor form by his own high standards (just one goals from his previous four Premier League games) can be pointed out as one of the causes of Spurs’ bad run of scores of late. Erik Lamela, who was among the few Spurs players who impressed in recent games, was superb on the flanks and could expect to form the mid-field trio along with Del Alli and Eriksen playing behind the lone striker, Harry Kane.
For 13th placed Stoke City, Saturday’s win against Swansea City was their first after successive defeats to Crystal Palace and Liverpool and a couple of draws with Leicester City and Brighton before that.The Potters have been heavily relying on the likes of Mame Biram Diouf,Xherdan Shaqiri, Eric Choupo-Moting and Peter Crouch to get them goals in recent outings and same will be the fans’ expectations when their team visit Wembley on December 9. Despite having capable individuals like Ryan Shawcross, Kurt Zouma and Bruno Indi at the back, Mark Hughes’ side have leaked in more than goals than any other team in the 2017-18 Premier League season so far. Harry Kane & co. will expect to capitalize on the defensive weakness of the Potters on Saturday, but it’s their poor record at their new home at Wembley that could cast a cloud over Mauricio Pochettino’s men. The Lilywhites who were previously virtually impregnable at White Hart lane, have lost three of their seven Premier League fixtures at the Wembley this season.
But the match against Stoke gives Spurs a slim chance to move up from the present 6th spot, a far cry from the 3rd spot they held just a month ago.
However, the hosts are the clear favorites to win the December 9 fixture against the visiting Stoke City side despite their Wembley hoodoo.
Recommended Tip:
Both Teams to Score, Best odds 1/1