After beating Stoke heavily last season, Paul Merson believes Tottenham will find it more difficult this time around.
Dele Alli celebrates with team mates after scoring the second goal for Tottenham
At the end of last season when Tottenham Hotspur played Stoke City away from home, the match could not have been more one-sided.
Spurs demolished Stoke 4-0, with the home side only ever there to make up the numbers.
Stoke were blown away by a Tottenham side possessed by belief they could go on and catch Leicester City and win the league.
The two teams face off this weekend, and Spurs do not have quite the same form behind them heading into the contest, with one win from their opening three games.
Paul Merson has told SkySports he believes they will drop points, calling a 1-1 draw.
Paul Merson – All Stars XI
This is despite Stoke currently being bottom of the league, with just one point, showing little sign of improving from how they finished the season.
Merson said: “I don’t typically go against Stoke at home because they are a difficult team to beat, but they need to get their campaign up and running.
“Tottenham had a fantastic result there last season after they scored early in the game, but the addition of Wilfried Bony brings something different to the table for Stoke.”
Stoke signed Bony on transfer deadline day, but he may find it difficult to hit form right away, after warming the Manchester City bench in recent months.
He had not started any games under Pep Guardiola, and while he will be motivated to make up for lost time, Spurs will still fancy their chances of getting a result even if they play just half as well as they did last season.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
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