Tottenham braced for slog against Stoke after Champions League stroll

Going places: Georges-Kevin Nkoudou impresses in the victory against APOEL
Getty Images
Jonathan Hunn8 December 2017

Wednesday’s Champions League stroll against Apoel has lifted the mood and potentially shifted the momentum at Tottenham but they are preparing for another Premier League slog when Stoke visit Wembley on Saturday.

Spurs have made European football look easy, finishing the Champions League group stage with more points than anyone, but they take on Stoke amid a run of one win in six in the League, leaving them 18 points adrift of table toppers Manchester City.

Spurs have hammered Stoke 4-0 in each of their past three meetings and they could become the first top-flight club to win four consecutive games against the same opponent by four goals or more. To make history, they will need to match their total goal tally from the five home games against Burnley, Swansea, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and West Brom, however.

Left-back Danny Rose says Spurs “fully expect” Mark Hughes’s side to replicate the successful approach of those clubs at Wembley by defending deep, flooding the centre and trying to frustrate their hosts. The Stoke boss said: “Teams are setting their stall out this year against them and that has affected them.”

Rose has also called on Spurs to stop conceding early goals after they fell behind inside 15 minutes in the past three League games against West Brom, Leicester and Watford. Stoke have also had trouble keeping clean sheets, managing just two in the League this term, but they have only failed to score in three games and Peter Crouch is aiming to become their leading Premier League marksman against his former club.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino will recall Hugo Lloris, Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane after resting them midweek, leaving his only major decision at the back.

Davinson Sanchez will serve the first of a three-match ban after being sent off at Vicarage Road last weekend, while Toby Alderweireld remains sidelined with a hamstring problem.

In Pictures | Tottenham vs APOEL | 06/07/2017

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Pochettino is expected to use a four-man defence but he could move Ben Davies or Juan Foyth, who impressed against Apoel, into a back three. Heung-min Son, who has scored four goals in his past five starts, is expected to keep his place, while fit-again Erik Lamela — not included in Spurs’s Champions League squad — should return.

Spurs have clicked into another gear over the festive period in the past two seasons but Pochettino has already warned that it could be different this season because they are running further on Wembley’s big pitch. The Argentine’s squad will be tested to the limit in the next few weeks, particularly with three fixtures in five days at the start of January. The manager will have been encouraged by the displays of Rose, Serge Aurier, Fernando Llorente, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Foyth in midweek.

Victor Wanyama remains sidelined with a knee injury but says he is closing in on a return. “I feel fine and on the road to full fitness,” said the Kenyan. “I am almost back and its exciting after missing most of the season.”

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