Stoke City Scout Report

Stoke City almost did enough for a point in their first outing of the new term last weekend, but a late goal from Phillippe Coutinho handed Liverpool a narrow win at the Britannia Stadium.

That match was watched by Swiss international Xerdan Shaqiri who became the club’s record signing less than 48 hours later, penning a four-year contract with the club after they agreed a £12m fee with Inter Milan.

Chairman Peter Coates has admitted that Shaqiri is likely to be the final new arrival at the Britannia Stadium this summer. It has been a busy transfer window for Stoke, with 11 new permanent signings coming in, along with Marco Van Ginkel on loan from Chelsea.

Mark Hughes will be hoping that the winger’s arrival signals a change in luck for the side, who lost their last three pre-season friendlies as well as they meeting with Brendan Rodgers’s side last Sunday, leaving them on a four-match losing run.

Like their opponents, Stoke are one of just five Premier League sides who did not find the back of the net in their opening match of the season, so they will be hoping to return to last year’s form in front of goal, which saw the team score 48 goals.

Defending was a major part of Stoke’s success last year, letting in just 45 goals, the seventh fewest in the league to help the club secure a top-half finish in the table, but they have lost first-choice keeper Asmir Begovic over the summer.

Recent form: DLWDWL
Recent form (all competitions): WWLLLL

Team News

Barring an injury setback in training, Stoke will surely be keen to flaunt new signing Shaqiri on their visit to White Hart Lane. The visitors do have a number of injury concerns though, with Hughes admitting that he wants Bojan to spend more time regaining match fitness with the Under-21s after missing the second half of last season with a knee ligament injury, while Peter Odemwingie is a doubt after picking up a hamstring strain.

Ryan Shawcross will still be out as he recovers from a back injury, which is expected to keep him sidelined for a couple of months, but Erik Pieters should be able to come back in after recovering from an illness that forced him off at half time against Liverpool, while Marko Arnoutovic could return after missing out last week with a hip problem.

By contrast, Pochettino reported that all of his players are fit for his side’s first home match of the campaign, which means goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and defender Danny Rose could both return after sitting out the game at Old Trafford with lingering injuries.

However, Adebayor is almost certain to miss out following the manager’s admission that he does not feature in his plans, while Soldado may have completed his move to Villarreal by kickoff.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris, Rose, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Mason, Bentaleb, Dembele, Eriksen, Chadli, Kane

Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Butland, Johnson, Cameron, Muniesa, Pieters, Van Ginkel, Whelan, Walters, Adam, Shaqiri, Diouf

Head To Head

Stoke completed the double over Spurs last season, claiming a 2-1 win at White Hart Lane before beating Tottenham 3-0 in their most recent meeting at the Britannia back in May.

The win at White Hart Lane ended a run of five matches without a win over the London club, included three straight defeats in the Premier League, and a first win at Tottenham’s ground since 2009.

Since the first meeting between the two sides back in 1896 in an FA Cup tie, Tottenham have won 43 matches and drawn 19 against the Potters, while Stoke have picked up 26 wins.

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know