please log in to view this image Thursday 18th May 7.45pm Premier League King Power Stadium So our season's over, we've seen the Lane off in unbeaten style and we're definitely finishing 2nd. Next up? A visit to last season's champions, who also have very little to play for. They'll be using the possibility of a top half finish and 8th place as a carrot. What will Pochettino have in his armoury to use as a stick to beat them back? Our hosts had a great campaign last year, but they were under no illusions about this one. Their best player had left in the summer, European football would make things tougher and they were suddenly a scalp. There were no expectations of a repeat performance, just hopes of a respectable one. Some of those hopes were dashed, while some were achieved, I think it's fair to say. Any thoughts of retaining the title took an immediate kicking on the opening day, as they lost to Hull. A side barely managing to field a squad and who were heavy favourites for the drop shocked everyone. Things continued to be rather up and down in the league, but they strolled through their Champions League group. Early qualification allowed their focus to shift back to the league and things improved. It was a temporary lift, though. Ranieri seemed to lose the players that he'd taken to glory. Performances dropped off, losses mounted up and he was dispatched, as a result. There were a lot of questions asked and insults flung in response. His replacement quickly muted a lot of that with a string of good form, though. Some big European performances and a pull away from the relegation zone brings us up to date. Shakespeare may not have been a big name in the game, but he turned around their season. Will he be able to finish the job off and drag them into the top half? This game could be a massive factor in that and their ambitions for the future. The game at the Lane was another frustrating one for us, as many have been against them. Kane and Alderweireld missed out due to injury, but it didn't seem to massively affect the team. We dominated the ball and the chances, but failed to take advantage, until Huth fouled Janssen in the box. He dispatched the resultant penalty just before the break, but we conceded the equaliser just after it. A rare Wanyama mistake lead to their only shot on target, but Musa's goal earned them a point. The visit to the King Power in the last campaign wasn't that different. We seemed to be well on top, but couldn't find the breakthrough to claim victory, until late on. Dele Alli stole in with about ten minutes left to seemingly take all three points. It wasn't to be though, as Riyad Mahrez equalised almost immediately. Neither side has any suspensions for this one, but both are missing various players to injury. Lamela, Rose, Winks, Trippier and Walker are all out, while Carter-Vickers, Walker-Peters and Onomah are on international duty. Huth, Morgan, King, Mendy and Drinkwater will all be missing for Leicester. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Wanyama, Dier; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Walker, Wimmer, Dembele, Sissoko, N'Koudou, Janssen. League form: WWWWLW. Leicester: Schmeichel; Simpson, Benalouane, Fuchs, Chilwell; Mahrez, Ndidi, King, Albrighton; Okazaki, Vardy. Subs: Zieler, Wasilewski, Amartey, Musa, Kaputska, Gray, Slimani. League form: LDLWWL. Referee: Michael Oliver. TV: Sky Sports 1. With both of our established right-backs injured and our top prospect missing, how do we set up? Should we just move Dier there and play a four or switch to the three and use someone else? How strong a side should we select and is there anyone that you'd want to see given a run out?
Do not want Dembele to be playing at all now 2nd place is done. Playing thru the pain barrier is not something sportsmen should regularly do. Dier is probably best bet for RB. I would like to see at least 30 mins in the last two games for both GKN and Sissoko. Time to for them to show starting XI progress and not subs fill-in fodder.
No Walker or Trippier. Time to test out our possible squad replacements for Walker. I'd like to see Dier or N'Koudou given a shot at right wing back. Probably the latter, since we'll need Dier at the back if we play with 3 defenders. Hopefully we can do a "Rose" and convert N'Koudou, he's certainly got the pace! Knowing Pochettino, we'll probably stick with 4 at the back and push Dier to right back though. Sissoko in midfield, anyone?
Would like to see some of the young reserve players getting valuable game experience. Leicester and Hull away will be great experience for some and could pay dividends next season.
Would like to see the fringe players get a start but they're all fking injured or on intl duty! What I'd like to see: Hugo Dier Toby Jan Davies Wanyama Son Alli Eriksen GKN Kane But I think Sissoko will start tbh.
Pre-match press conference: These ****ers really don't get the rumour thing, do they? Every bloody week.
...who their moronic fans boo for not scoring as many goals for them as he does for us, because they can't get their heads around the idea that a player can't score goals if their manager doesn't play them.
Simply to get him some games after bench warming most of the season. No issues with Hugo - other than his fannying around Doubt whether MV will be there next year and he's been a very reliable No 2 for a couple of years.
Fair enough. I just feel that by picking a player for what is maybe sentimental reasons such as "reward" for being reliable, hints at the manager being on the beach a wee bit. When the other players see this, then they will switch off also.
Like to see Marcus Edwards get a chance. I read somewhere he had been training with the first team, can anyone confirm that?
You could argue that this is a unique situation in that regardless of the results we retain 2nd place and we are already likely to be playing very much a 2nd string for a variety of reasons. I agree with your sentiments, but think there will be enough of an incentive for a number of players to take these two games seriously.
One suggestion I saw online was we line up like this... Lloris Dier Alderweireld Vertonghen Sissoko Dembele Wanyama Davies Alli Eriksen Kane I believe the logic was that, as a wing back, that would allow Sissoko to run a lot - which is the majority of what he offers to the team (the other thing being the chance to get ten minutes rest at the end of a match)