Xherdan Shaqiri
All eyes will be on Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri as he makes his debut for Stoke City against Tottenham on Saturday Getty

Tottenham host Stoke City at White Hart Lane on Saturday (15 August) in their first home game of the 2015/16 campaign.

Where to Watch

Kick-off is set for 3pm BST. Live TV coverage of the game is not available. Live Radio coverage will be available on BBC Radio 5 Live. Highlights of the game will be available on BBC Match of the Day from 10.30pm BST on BBC One.

Overview

Tottenham host Stoke City in their first home game of the 2015/16 season and come into this game on the back of a 1-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Mauricio Pochettino will hope to get off to a winning start at White Hart Lane, but faces a striker shortage with Harry Kane the only recognised forward in the squad. He will hope that his other offensive players can contribute with goals and help Kane shoulder the burden.

The Argentine manager has an almost fully fit squad going into the clash against the Potters, who lost their opening game of the season to Liverpool at the Britannia Stadium.

Mark Hughes will want to get their campaign up and running, but faces a difficult task against the north London club. All eyes will be on new arrival Xherdan Shaqiri, who completed a club-record move from Inter Milan earlier this week. The Swiss international will start for Hughes' team as they look to get their first points on the board.

Stoke will be without skipper Ryan Shawcross, who is nursing a back injury, but Erik Pieters and Marko Arnautovic should be back for the Potters, who are a different side nowadays to the one created by former manager Tony Pulis.

What Managers Say

Mauricio Pochettino [on needing a striker]: "We have different players that can play like a striker and we have different offensive players that can play in different options. But I think we don't need too much players to bring in."

Mark Hughes: "We are trying to progress and you can only do that by getting the right quality of players in to enhance what we already have. We are hopeful of a good year and to have someone here of Xherdan's undoubted ability is fantastic. We have strength in depth, shown last year where we had a really good season despite a number of injuries. I think that we will need that again this year and if that gives me a headache over team selection then that can only be a good thing."

Betting Odds

  • Tottenham Win: 13/17
  • Draw: 11/4
  • Stoke City Win: 41/10

Team News

Tottenham

Possible XI: Lloris, Rose, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Mason, Bentaleb, Dembele, Eriksen, Chadli, Kane.

Stoke City

Possible XI: Butland, Johnson, Cameron, Muniesa, Pieters, Van Ginkel, Whelan, Walters, Adam, Shaqiri, Diouf.

Premier League Tottenham