Leicester City dropped two points on Sunday, giving Tottenham the perfect incentive to go out and beat Stoke City in their English Premier League match at the Britannia on Monday. The gap between the two is eight points at the moment, with a win cutting that deficit down to five.
With just a handful of games remaining, Spurs know they absolutely must take advantage of any slipup from the leaders, and while dropping all three points would have suited Mauricio Pochettino's team better â€" Leicester pulled off a draw against West Ham with a last-minute penalty â€" they will settle for the two dropped points.
Watch the highlights of the match HERE
"It's important to keep fighting," Pochettino told the club's official website. "We have different objectives -- one is to try and win the title but also to play in the Champions League, this is important too for the club and if it's not to win the title, it's to stay in second. That is very important.
"We have big motivation to try and reduce the gap with Leicester but in the same way, the motivation is also to keep our position if it's not possible to win the title."
Spurs picked up a rather impressive 3-0 win over Manchester United last weekend, with all three goals coming in the second half, just when they needed it. Time and again, Tottenham have shown the fight of potential champions, and it is that desire, quality and intensity which will be required if they are to trump Stoke on Monday.
"We're focused, we have five games ahead and it's important we try to win those five games," Pochettino added. "It's important to compete until the end and try to win the title.
"That's our objective, our dream and for our supporters too. We know we need to fight a lot, to be lucky as well, to wait and hope Leicester drop some points."
The advantage for Stoke, who drew 2-2 at White Hart Lane earlier this season, going into this match is that all the pressure and expectations will be on Tottenham. Mark Hughes, the Potters manager, believes that pressure could end up working in his team's favour.
"Tottenham will feel that they need to win every game," Hughes told Stoke City's website. "They are running out of games now. Even if they win them all then their fate still isn't in their own hands.
"In terms of the game then they will have to come here and be positive and I think that will help us. We have struggled at times against teams who come here and sit back, but in the games against teams who come and back their ability against us, we tend to do well.
"We have beaten Chelsea, Manchester City and United, so we are confident. If they aren't consistent in all aspects of their game then they could leave gaps for us."
Where to Watch Live
Stoke City vs Tottenham is scheduled for an 8 p.m. BST (12.30 p.m. IST, 3 p.m. ET) start. Live TV coverage of the match in India will be on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1, while the match can also be watched via live streaming online on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
The Premier League match will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports 1, while the live stream option is on Watch Sky Sports.
NBCSN will broadcast the game live in the US, while the action can also be live streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra. Audience in Canada can watch the action live on TSN 5, TSN 4 and RDS2, with the live streaming option on TSN TV.
Viewers in Singapore can watch the match live on 102 mio, while live coverage of the game in Thailand will be on CTH. Bein Sports Arabia 2 and Bein Sports Arabia 11 will broadcast Stoke vs Spurs live in the Middle East and North Africa, while the action can also be live streamed on Bein Sports Connect.
Australia viewers can watch the EPL game live on Fox Sports 4, while the online live stream options are on Fox Sports On Demand and Foxtel Play.
