please log in to view this image Stoke City host Tottenham Hotspur at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday 11th December in the 15th round of 2011-12 Premier League matches (14th game for Spurs) The Potters have made a solid start to the season and are currently in 8th place in the table on 18 points, while Spurs are having their best start to a season since 1960-61 and are in third place with 31 of the last 33 points on offer having been won. This will be the 82nd time the two teams have met and the second meeting of the season after the Football League (Carling) Cup game at Stoke in September. The first meeting came at the Victoria Ground when Stoke City were playing as Stoke FC in the old first round of the FA Cup in February 1896 in a match Stoke won 5-0. Stoke became one of the 12 founding members of the Football League in 1888 and the clubs were drawn together in the third round of the FA Cup in February 1899 at the Victoria Ground with Stoke winning 4-1. The first match at White Hart Lane between the clubs was a friendly played in March 1900 with Spurs, then Champions of the Southern League, beating Stoke 6-0. Spurs joined the Football League for the 1908-09 season, replacing Stoke who had resigned at the end of the previous season for financial reasons. The clubs didn't meet in a League match until April 1920 in the Second Division with Tottenham winning 2-0 at the Lane and 3-1 at the Victoria Ground. The first meeting in Division One came in March 1923 at Stoke which resulted in a 0-0 draw. Spurs won the reverse fixture at the Lane a week later 3-1. The clubs met for five seasons in the Second Division between 1928 to 1933 and for two seasons in Division One from 1934 to 1935. After the Second World War, the clubs met in the modern FA Cup third round in January 1947 at White Hart Lane which resulted in a 2-2 draw with Stoke winning the replay 1-0 thanks to a Stanley Matthews goal. Three years later, Spurs beat Stoke 1-0 away in the third round. Spurs were Football League Champions in 1950-51 and beat Stoke 6-1 at home but could only draw 0-0 away during that season. Every League game played between Spurs and Stoke since WW2 has taken place in the Top Flight, except for season 1977-78 when Spurs spent a single season in Division Two, beating Stoke 3-1 in both matches. The clubs met in the FA Cup in January 1976 with a 1-1 draw at the Lane followed by a 2-1 win for Stoke in the replay. Tottenham Hotspur were founder members of the Premier League in 1992-93 but Stoke City's first season in the competition came in 2008-09 with Stoke winning 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium and Spurs winning 3-1 at the Lane. During 2009-10, Stoke won 1-0 at White Hart Lane with Spurs winning 2-1 at the Britannia. Last season, Spurs did the "double" over Stoke, winning the away fixture 2-1 with a brace of goals from Gareth Bale and the home fixture 3-2 in April with a brace from Peter Crouch and a Luka Modric goal. The teams met for the first time in the Football League (Carling) Cup 3rd round in September 2011 at Stoke and the match finished in a goalless draw after extra time. Stoke went on to win the penalty shoot-out 7-6. Spurs youngster Massimo Luongo penalty was saved by Thomas Sorensen. Peter Crouch moved to Stoke City during the summer along with fellow team-mates Jonathan Woodgate and Wilson Palacios, where they joined another former Spurs player, Matthew Ethrington. Overall, Spurs have won 41 games, Stoke have won 22 games and the remaining 18 matches of the 81 played have been drawn. please log in to view this image Full history of Tottenham Hotspur v Stoke City matches 1896-2011 please log in to view this image They Played for Spurs & Stoke... Paul Allen Garry Brooke Joe Brough George Clawley Garth Crooks Peter Crouch Matthew Etherington Ray Evans Márton Fülöp Eiður Guðjohnsen Ken Hancock Archie Heggarty Stephen Kelly Fred Latham Billy Leech Gerry Mahon Ian Moores James Morton Wilson Palacios Tony Parks Jimmy Robertson Hans Segers Paul Stewart Charlie Wilson Jonathan Woodgate please log in to view this image Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Squad Numbers 1992-2012 Stoke City Premier League Player's Squad Numbers 2008-2012 please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Don't really need to say nice article again THFC6061 but I will Nice one! Buzzing for this, first time I'll be heading to the Britannia. Going for 2-1 Spurs.
Excellent as always I watched the highlights of the Everton-Stoke game yesterday - a lot of aerial work from Stoke both in attack and defence. I can't see us having too much success if we try to score from headers etc - that being said, I think pace (which we have in abundance) will be key to unlocking their defence. Kaboul has to play - aside from the fact he's been playing well, he's also pretty decent with aerial threats. Let's just hope Crouch doesn't come back to haunt us...
The game at the Britannia is certainly winnable for Spurs and we go into it with our confidence sky high. But it's never an easy place to get a win and Tony Pulis has had a couple on back-to-back victories now. If we can manage a win here and another at home to Sunderland, it sets the Chelsea game on 22nd December up very nicely.
Congrats THFC6061 - Newsnow have published your thread on their source feed. http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Sport/Football/Premier League/Tottenham Hotspur/All Sources
That was me, SoS. If people write suitable threads of 200+ words, then I can nominate them for Newsnow. I pretty much push THFC6061's match threads automatically, now. They're routinely exceptional, if that's possible!
I was just having a look at Spurs' starting XI for the League Cup match at Stoke in September... Gomes Corluka - Kaboul - Bassong - Assou-Ekotto Sandro - Livermore Dos Santos - Van der Vaart - Carroll Pavlyuchenko ...I think only three of those players will line-up on Sunday... Friedel Walker - Kaboul - King (or Gallas) - Assou-Ekotto Parker - Modric Lennon - Van der Vaart- Bale Adebayor ...althogh Jermain Defoe is in such fine form at the moment, Harry will have a difficult decision as to playing him or Van der Vaart, who's been injured recently.
Cheers as always 6061 I think it will be very difficult at Stoke, as our weaknesses mirror their strengths to a large extent. Win this and we're title contenders (IMHO).
Crouch predicts Spurs title tilt Stoke striker Peter Crouch believes Tottenham will be "there or thereabouts" at the top of the Premier League come the end of the season. Tottenham have won 10 and drawn one of their last 11 Premier League games to climb up to third in the table, two points behind Manchester United and a further five behind leaders Manchester City, with a game in hand on both. They travel to Crouch's current side Stoke on Saturday hoping to make it seven league wins in a row and keep the pressure up on the top two. When asked whether his former employers could challenge for the title, the 30-year-old told Sky Sports: "I don't see why not. "They certainly have the players and I think the manager believes in them. "They have so much threat with the forwards they have got, the two wingers, [Luka] Modric and [Scott] Parker in the middle, they have so much quality all over the pitch. "The only thing about winning the title is the confidence and the belief that you can do it. "Man United have been there and done that so they always a threat and City on fire at the moment. "But I would certainly put Tottenham there or thereabouts when the league title is decided at the end of the season. They are playing some unbelievable football at the moment, it's a joy to watch." http://www.teamtalk.com/stoke-city/7356195/Crouch-predicts-Spurs-title-tilt
Last 2 games against Stoke at the Britannia in the League have ended in 2-1 victories for Spurs. Whilst they were hard fought, Spurs got the wins nonetheless. Kaboul and King / Gallas will have to be on top aerial form to negate the aerial bombardment from Stoke. As well, Bale and Adebayor will need to chip in too. Walker and Assou Ekotto will have work to do to prevent the likes of Pennant, Etherington and co. from getting the crosses in too. I see no reason why Spurs can't keep up their excellent scoring run (which should be much higher) and getting 2+ goals against Stoke. Our front 5 are technically superior to Stoke and only a faultless display could prevent Spurs from getting goalscoring chances. Our biggest concern will be clearing the crosses, free kicks and corners that are dealt into the box. It is essential that Kaboul, King / Gallas and Friedel communicate with each other and Friedel must be commanding. I still think Spurs have more than enough to win the game, and if Adebayor actually puts on his scoring boots, Spurs should win comfortably. Lets just hope so!
Good stuff Lotak, problem is Friedel won't be commanding. Certainly not in the sense of coming out to deal with Stoke's crosses. No way can I see him changing his 'stick to the line' philosophy for just one day, and it would almost certainly be a mistake if he did. Clearly Brad does what suits him best, and as a very experienced keeper, I'm sure he is spot on knowing what is best for him. Somehow, our players in front of him are going to have to prevent Stoke getting headers and shots in from close range, which are almost unsaveable. To win this one would give me as much pleasure as did beating Arsenal at home earlier in the season, and I think it's just as tough a prospect as were Arsenal. We'll probably be similar odds, as I think we started favs against the Gunners last time round. Another 2-1 win would do brilliantly
We were favourites against Arsenal, I remember that because they made a big deal out of it pre-match. Whilst Stoke are great at home, I believe most of the "big" teams would still be made favourites against them at the Britiannia. Spurs should be one of those teams as well.
I'm glad so many Spurs fans here and elsewhere are optimistic about this game, helps keep my fears in check
I'm more worried about this game than I have been for any of our other recent matches, I don't know why, but I'm fearing our winning streak could come to an end.
