It was just seven days back that Tottenham Hotspur were being promoted as authentic Premier League title competitors, sitting as they were at the highest point of the table with a demonstrated champ in charge.
Nonetheless, consecutive defeat against individual high-flyers Liverpool and Leicester City combined with a draw at Crystal Palace before that have seen Jose Mourinho’s side dive from first to fifth over the course of about seven days, filling in as a rude awakening for the individuals who had set out to start longing for a first league title in quite a while.
The dry spell in this opposition isn’t exactly as long, yet their 2008 victory remains their last bit of silverware of any sort thus this match will at present hold a lot of significance for Mourinho, who has just lifted the prize multiple times as a director and has advanced from 26 of his 31 League Cup ties before.
Just North London rivals Arsenal have showed up at this phase of the opposition more regularly than Spurs, and they couldn’t have sought after a kinder draw against the most minimal positioned group still in this current season’s competition.
Tottenham saw their first-round meeting with Leyton Orient dropped because of COVID-19 tests thus have just needed to defeat one obstacle in transit to the quarter-finals despite the fact that it was a critical one as they disregarded an extraordinarily bustling timetable to beat Chelsea on penalties.
Strikingly, Tottenham’s last three EFL Cup ties have all gone to a penalty shootout remembering their ways out for as far back as two seasons on account of Chelsea and Colchester United individually, and they could turn out to be just the second side in the opposition’s set of experiences to go to four shootouts in succession – after Leicester from September 2018 to August 2019.
Stoke would presumably take a penalty shootout thinking about the quality available to Tottenham, despite the fact that they will cheer up from the way that they have just beaten Premier League sides Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa in this current season’s opposition.
Without a doubt, Stoke have now won every one of their last three League Cup ties against groups from a higher division, which is now their best such altercation the opposition.
The Potters have likewise beaten Blackpool and Gillingham, keeping clean sheets in the entirety of their matches to turn into the primary side to have started in the first round and advanced through to the quarters without conceding a solitary goal since Colchester did likewise in 1974-75.
Another clean sheet against Spurs would see them become the main non-Premier League side to keep five on the bob in this opposition since Preston North End from 1997 to 1999, and could likewise assist them with arriving at the semi-finals as a non-top flight club for the absolute first time.
Goals at the opposite end have not actually been free-streaming in the EFL Cup this season, with three from four games, yet it has been a comparative story in the Championship as of late.
Michael O’Neill’s side beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0 on Saturday with their solitary shot on track of the game, keeping a 6th clean sheet in their last seven excursions all the while.
The Potters have just scored four goals themselves in that time, despite the fact that the triumph has lifted them up to seventh spot with just goal distinction currently keeping them out of the end of the season games.
A goal fest might be unreasonable in this match, similar to the case in the solitary past League Cup meeting between these different sides a 0-0 impasse in September 2011 which wound up with Stoke winning 7-6 on penalty. Tottenham have won their last five games against Stoke across all rivalries, however, and four of those triumphs stopped by a four-goal edge.
CONCLUSION
Stoke city are truly battling for goals right now and, while their cautious record deserves admiration, they don’t regularly face an attack with the nature of Tottenham’s in any event, representing the progressions liable to be made by Mourinho.
Tottenham have endured a dunk in structure at a truly downright terrible, however we can see them returning to winning ways and advancing to the semi-finals here. Hence, we predict a win for tottenham.
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