Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City

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Saturday 8th December 7.45pm
Premier League
King Power Stadium​

A return to winning ways is always a good thing, but the performance against Southampton wasn't great.
This trip to Leicester will surely offer more of a test and it's one that we need to pass.
The home side are quietly ticking along and picking up points, putting together a decent run as they go.
They're unbeaten in seven and they're eyeing the European places, sitting a point behind Utd in 9th.
There's a big match coming up against Barca, but we can't afford to take our collective eye off the ball.

Leicester's summer was Claude Puel's first at the club, following Craig Shakespeare's short stint at the helm.
The Frenchman took over in October with the side in 18th place and they ended the season in 9th.
Their form was pretty similar to that of his Southampton side, who had finished the previous campaign in 8th.
I must admit to being mystified at his dismissal from St Mary's, especially as they also reached a cup final.
His current record with those clubs is almost identical, having managed 53 games with each.

The departure of some influential players meant that Leicester had a bit of rebuilding to do during the window.
Riyad Mahrez and Ahmed Musa brought in some substantial funds and they were used to good effect.
Robert Huth and Leonardo Ullua were let go, while Islam Slimani joined Fenerbache on loan.
Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, James Maddison, Danny Ward and Çağlar Söyüncü all joined.
Rachid Ghezzal and Filip Benkovic were also added, completing around £100m in transfer spending.

A mixed start to the campaign seemed to end and become irrelevant on the same day.
The 27th of October saw them draw 1-1 with West Ham, but few will remember their first draw of the season.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the chairman who had brought them such success, never made it home from the game.
His helicopter crashed in the car park, due to what we now know was a pedal mechanism problem.
He and four others were killed and both the club and the city were plunged into mourning.

Our visit to the King Power last season saw us pay dearly for a sloppy start and poor finishing.
Jamie Vardy volleyed them into the lead after just 12 minutes and Mahrez made it 2-0 just before the break.
Chance after chance went begging, with Eriksen spurning two of the best opportunities to score.
Harry Kane pulled one back with 12 minutes left, but we couldn't find an equaliser and it finished 2-1.

The return fixture was a dead rubber on the final day, but it was a great game for the neutral.
Both sides made some unusual selections and the match was highly chaotic and unpredictable.
Vardy opened the scoring after 4 minutes, but the lead didn't last long, as Kane equalised after 7.
Mahrez put them back in front after 16 and Iheanacho put them 3-1 up just after the break.
Lamela scored two and forced an own goal for another as we made it 4-3, but it still wasn't over.
Vardy pulled it back to 4-4, but Kane scored his 30th league goal of the season to win it late on:

Dembele, Lamela, Sanchez, Wanyama, Trippier and Foyth are all injured for this one.
Vardy misses out for Leicester, but Maguire and Evans should both return.
Neither side has any suspensions.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Llories; Trippier, Foyth, Alderweireld, Rose; Winks, Dier, Eriksen; Son, Kane, Moura.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Aurier, Davies, Skipp, Sissoko, Alli, Llorente.
League form: LWWWLW.

Leicester: Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan, Soyuncu, Chilwell; Mendy, Ndidi; Albrighton, Maddison, Diabate; Iheanacho.
Subs: Ward, Pereira, Fuchs, Knight, Iborra, Gray, Okazaki.
League form: DWDDWD.

Referee: Craig Pawson.

TV: BT Sport 1.

How many changes would you risk for this one, given the upcoming and vital Champions League match?
Who needs to be rested or dropped from Wednesday's lineup against Southampton?
Is there anyone on the fringes of the squad that you'd like to see brought in, given our injury list?

 

Hugo
Aurier, Toby, Jan, Davies
Sissoko, Alli
Lucas, Eriksen, Son
Kane

Was debating whether I thought Skipp should start or not but opted for Alli in the end. Wouldn't mind seeing Skipp get more than a 5 minute cameo though.

 

With more than half a mind on the Nou Camp....
Gazza
KWP
Toby
Verts
Rose
Winks
Dier
Dele (CM)
Son
Lucas
Kane

Very tempted to start Skippy, but would hope to see him get a decent run out.

Would be good to rest Kane, but no real options other than starting Nando - and we know that won't happen.....

 

They're missing Vardy, which is a plus for us. That rat faced bastard always fancies it against us. Also, Maguire's only just returned to training after about 5 weeks out. Either he won't start or will be likely to be rusty. That's a big plus in a fixture that they're usually up for.

It's a shame that Foyth's injured as this would be as good a game for him to play, as Arsenal was a bad one. Still, having the best PL partnership back in harness is no hardship. I'm torn on whether Rose should play again. He was pretty bad on Wednesday but we need him to be up and firing for the Christmas fixtures and so he'll need minutes somewhere. I'd have to hide behind the sofa if we pick him against Barcelona, after his last outing.

It's bloody annoying that we decided to test how strong Trippier's groin was (Ooooh errr!) by playing him for nearly 90 minutes in a game we had won by an hour, with replacements on the bench. It had to be a case of..."Give him an hour and see how he recovers"...didn't it? Now, we've got Aurier and KWP with some lesser teams coming up, where Tripps normally has a field day. Not Smart!

I should imagine that we'll play Winksy at Barcelona and Eric Dier needs a rest, so Sissoko plus Skippy or Dele?

Whatever team we pick, this is a game where we can make up on the 0 points picked up there last season. Let's go and do them! COYS!

 

No Paul Stewart again duck

 

Bit quiet on this thread. Is everyone still sulking about losing against Arsenal?

I always get nervous about Leicester, and I don't think the Saturday night matches suit anyone. Mind you, wasn't it the Chelsea match when we played on a Saturday night previously?

Everyone harks on about midfielders that Spurs need to buy. For me, I would like Spurs to focus on the fullbacks. Davis, Aurier, Rose are simply not working effectively in Poch's systems and they have far too many poor performances.

I suspect today will be Spurs' first draw of the campaign. 1-1.

 

Surely KWP will get a start today with Tripps out no point in risking aurier in this one.

 

Thats a good shout, but I expect Poch to pick Serge

I am expecting Hugo, Serge, Ben, Toby, Jan, Mousa, Harry W, Son, Dele, Lucas & Harry K

 

Troy Parrott has traveled with the match squad, though it's unlikely he'll be part of the 18.
Good experience for the lad and it's a good sign, especially as he's still only 16.
Nice reward for his goalscoring exploits with the U18s.

 

Big tingz for Troy Parrott now!

It’s hard not to get excited at his potential. Already had a reputation before we signed him and has been killing it for the U18s this season.

 

Luckily Poch has briefed the ref over the course of the week that our players are not to be tackled. I therefore expect a few early yellow cards for Leicester if they have the effrontery to win the ball. Following that I think we should employ the tactic of scoring from an offside position, that usually knocks the stuffing out of the opposition. After that there's always an opportunity to get an undeserved penalty, to deny the opposition a blatant penalty, and to have their goals chalked off for [insert "reason" here]. All in all, another easy win for which none of the above shall be mentioned when describing how brilliant we are.

 

Don't say I didn't warn you...

 

Kane benched.
Nkoudou in the squad.

 

Time for the AMs to do the business like they done in games last season while Kane was out/ benched.

 

Predicting a Winks masterclass in the absence of Kane and Eriksen...

Who's Nkoudou?

 

Hmmmm, ......okay........errrr............Moussa Sissoko up top, maybe?

 

End of the Rose? Can’t imagine he is being saved for Barca.....

Hope the lads can get the job done. The results so far this weekend virtually demand 3 points tonight.

COYS!!

 

GKN on the bench? That's the sort of thing that could lead to demands we recall Shashoua...

 

Despite the fact BT showed the lineup along the bottom of the screen as a 4-4-2, I'm presuming we'll look like this:
Hugo
Aurier, Toby, Jan, Davies
Sissoko, Dier, Winks
Lucas, Son, Dele