Tottenham slipped to eighth as they failed to defeat struggling West Bromwich on Boxing Day, meaning this is a must-win game for Spurs. Meanwhile, Stoke were hammered 5-1 at St James’ Park, meaning both sides will have a lot to prove when they square off at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon.

“Gung Ho” Sherwood

Andre Villas-Boas was often criticized this season for his cautious approach and failure to properly utilize team’s amazing attacking potential, and it appears that new boss Tim Sherwood is determined not to make the same mistakes. The first thing he did upon taking over the reigns at the Lane was give Emmanuel Adebayor a chance to shine, and the Togolese repaid him for the faith by scoring three goals in as many matches. However, it is Sherwood’s attacking 4-4-2 formation that has been the subject of criticism, mainly because the new boss is not using a holding midfielder. And while Dembele and Eriksen former a midfield pairing against Southampton, Lewis Holtby replaced the Belgian in the starting line-up against West Brom, so no wonder Spurs have continued to leak goals for fun. In all fairness, the team are now much more dangerous up front, but that comes at a cost as even the weakest attacks in the league can now score against Spurs without too many problems. And while I do expect Tottenham to return to winning ways against Stoke, I am pretty sure they will concede in ninth straight fixture.

Paulinho returns from suspension, but Kyle Walke is banned and Younes Kaboul, Andros Townsend, Jan Vertonghen and Sandro are out injured. Moussa Dembele, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe face fitness tests.

Heavy defeat at St James’ Park

For the first time after quite a while Stoke seem to have discarded their long-ball tactics and they have new boss Mark Hughes to thank for that. Club’s decision to sack long-serving boss Tony Pulis raised a few eyebrows, but his replacement seems to have managed to turn the Potters into a much more adventurous side. And the best thing here is that results have remained respectable, with Stoke currently sitting in 10th place in the standings. Seeing as how they are mere five points clear of the bottom three, the Potters could still slip into the danger zone, but I am confident they will have no problem surviving this season. Stoke seem to have rediscovered their home form, having won three of last four matches at Britannia, with 3-2 triumph over Chelsea the highlight of their campaign. Meanwhile, they have continued to struggle on the road, where they are winless in last seven matches, but having scored 6 goals in last 5 away fixtures, the Potters can be trusted to get on the scoresheet against leaking Tottenham as well.

Glenn Whelan and Marc Wilson miss out through suspension, whereas Asmir Begovic is sidelined with a broken finger.

Verdict

Tottenham seem to be showing a great deal of improvement under Tim Sherwood and they can be trusted to defeat one of the worst travellers in the league, but their gung ho style is likely to prevent them from keeping a first clean sheet after eight games. And with Stoke scoring almost on regular basis on the road, betting on home win and both teams to score looks the right thing to do.

Top pick: Tottenham/Tottenham   2.20 (6/5) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   2.10 (11/10) @ Stan James

Alternative pick 2: Home win + both teams to score   3.75 (11/4) @ Ladbrokes