Spurs are the only team in the English top flight who have not yet been overcome this season, with Mauricio Pochettino’s men making it nine matches without defeat when they drew 0-0 with Bournemouth last time out. It has been an extremely positive start to the campaign for Tottenham, who many expected to find things difficult this term after last year’s third-place finish, with the north Londoners just one point off the top heading into this weekend’s round of matches. Pochettino’s charges have struggled going forward in recent weeks, though – they have failed to score from open play in each of their last three outings in all competitions – although on the flip side it is worth noting that no team has conceded fewer goals in the Premier League than Spurs (four).
Leicester have had a mixed start to the campaign, taking 11 points from the 27 available so far. After winning the title in 2015/16, Claudio Ranieri has clearly decided to prioritise the Champions League this year, which can in part explain their relative struggles in domestic competition. The Foxes did come out on top in their previous fixture, though, triumphing 3-1 against Crystal Palace in front of their own supporters at the King Power Stadium thanks to goals from Ahmed Musa, Shinji Okazaki and Christian Fuchs. It was probably Leicester’s best performance of the season so far, with Ranieri’s men looking much sharper on the counter-attack than they have done in most of the matches they have contested since the resumption of the Premier League in August.
Tottenham will be without two of their most important players once more, with Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld both still out with ankle and knee injuries respectively. Eric Dier will move back into the centre of defence after being deployed in midfield during Tuesday’s EFL Cup defeat by Liverpool at Anfield, while Son Heung-min could replace Vincent Janssen at centre-forward. Moussa Sissoko will play no part after being handed a retrospective ban for elbowing Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter at the Vitality Stadium last Saturday.
Leicester will hope to have Papy Mendy available for selection, but backup midfielder and long-term absentee Matty James remains sidelined. Ranieri may decide to rest some of his key names – including Jamie Vardy, Islam Slimani, Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater – with half an eye on Wednesday’s trip to Denmark to face Copenhagen in the Champions League, although at least two members of that quartet are likely to start.
Given that much of Leicester’s focus will be on next week’s European encounter, it is worth backing Tottenham to collect all three points at White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon. A 2-0 home victory looks to be the leading option in the correct scoreline market, while Dele Alli to find the back of the net before any other player on the pitch is another tempting proposition.
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