Leicester City welcome Tottenham Hotspur to King Power Stadium as both teams chase a top six finish.
Victory could see Leicester stay tenth in the table but move to within one point of ninth-placed Brighton, whereas Spurs can go fifth with a win.
Team News
Leicester could welcome James Justin back from a long-term knee injury which has kept the fullback out since February, although manager – Brendan Rogers won’t risk the 23 year-old unless he is fully match fit.
Luke Thomas (knock), Kieran Dewsbury-Hall (calf), Boubakary Soumare (illness), Caglar Soyuncu and Patson Daka (both hamstring) are also in contention to return.
Ricardo Pereira (shin), Ryan Bertrand (knee), Wesley Fofana (leg), Jonny Evans, Timothy Castagne and Jamie Vardy (all thigh) are ruled out.
Daniel Amartey, Nampalys Mendy, Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho are absent due to international call-ups for Africa Cup of Nations.
Tottenham could be without Eric Dier and Sergio Reguilon as the pair struggle with muscle injuries.
Steven Bergwijn (calf) could return but Cristian Romero (thigh) and Son Heung-min (muscle) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Leicester have won two of their last five league meetings against Tottenham (W2, L3).
- Tottenham have won three of their last five visits to King Power Stadium (W3, L2), with both defeats coming in 2-1 losses in November 2017 and September 2019 respectively.
- Harry Kane has scored seven goals in his last four away appearances for Tottenham in this fixture, although Spurs failed to keep clean sheets in those four matches.
- All five of Youri Tielemans’ league goals this season have been scored on his right foot.
- Eight of Tottenham’s 44 through balls this season have been created by Kane.
Prediction
Having played only once since the arrival of 2022, Leicester should be fairly fresh especially with players like Justin, Dewsbury-Hall and Daka fit again but rustiness could be an initial concern in the opening minutes, so solid defending could well be important.
Leicester though can take heart from their clinically dominant home performance against Watford in the FA Cup a week-and-a-half ago, yet this will be a tougher test but if they play like they did in their last league outing against Liverpool then anything is possible.
Tottenham meanwhile have had a week off to regroup after their lacklustre Carabao Cup exit against Chelsea, although they have been lacklustre in general across the pitch since 2022 arrived but are unbeaten in eight league games under Antonio Conte.
This game therefore will be interesting to watch from the perspective of both teams because this is a must-win for Leicester’s European qualification hopes, whereas Tottenham need a strong performance to give themselves a mental boost.
I though am punting on a home win if Leicester don’t show any rustiness and take their chances, particularly given Spurs’ poor away form under Conte
Prediction: Leicester 1-0 Tottenham
Result: Leicester 2-3 Tottenham