Tottenham vs Middlesbrough Preview, Team News, Line-Ups, Betting Tips & Prediction

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to close the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea when they take on Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon.

Spurs missed a golden opportunity to cut the gap on the Blues after only managing a frustrating 0-0 draw at Sunderland on Tuesday night after Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw at Anfield.

The results have left Tottenham sitting nine points adrift in second position but with Chelsea entertaining third-placed Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, Mauricio Pochettino knows it’s vital Spurs beat Boro tomorrow.

The north Londoners should be confident of doing so as Middlesbrough arrive in the capital without a win in their last six league games and they’ve managed to score just three goals during that run.

Team news

Spurs will be without Danny Rose after he was ruled out with a knee injury that he sustained in midweek. Ben Davies will therefore come in on the left side.

Jan Vertonghen is also missing as he continues to nurse an ankle injury while Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Kieran Trippier remain out with knee and hip injuries respectively.

Pochettino says that Erik Lamela is making progress in his recovery from a long-standing hip complaint but the attacker will remain unavailable this weekend.

However, Hugo Lloris is set to return between the sticks after missing the Sunderland game through illness.

Middlesbrough will have deadline day signing Adlene Guedioura available for selection but it remains to be seen whether he’ll go straight in to the starting eleven.

Calum Chambers has an outside chance of returning after making a swift recovery from a foot injury but George Friend and Gaston Ramirez are both ruled out.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Tottenham 2-0 Middlesbrough: Spurs have an excellent home record this season having won nine of their 11 games at the Lane so far [drawing the other two] so understandably they are the heavy favourites tomorrow. Boro can be a stubborn side at times but I really don’t see them causing Spurs too many problems and am backing Pochettino’s men to register a routine 2-0 win.