Leicester vs Tottenham: Premier League preview, team news, stats, predictions, kick-off time
Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu among Leicester absentees; Spurs in action after Covid-enforced break; watch free match highlights on Sky Sports digital platforms and YouTube channel shortly after full-time
Wednesday 15 December 2021 16:13, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Leicester vs Tottenham in the Premier League on Thursday (kick-off 7.30pm).
Team news
Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu have added to Leicester's growing list of injury absentees.
Both central defenders are nursing hamstring problems following the victory over Newcastle and will miss out on Thursday but boss Brendan Rodgers is hopeful they will be back in contention for the trip to Everton on Sunday.
Seven other players remain unavailable due to illness and Covid-related issues, including Jannik Vestergaard, Hamza Choudhury, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ayoze Perez and Ademola Lookman, although Daniel Amartey will be back in the squad after his recent absence.
Tottenham will play for the first time in 11 days after their Covid outbreak which struck down nine players.
Some are back in training and could be on the bench at the King Power Stadium, although no names have been given.
Defender Cristian Romero (hamstring) is the only injury absentee with Antonio Conte confirming midfielder Giovani Lo Celso has recovered fitness.
Last time out...
How to follow
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Jones Knows prediction...
Keeping ahead of the markets in this game is a vital commodity for anyone seriously trying to take down the bookmakers. Being across the latest team news is one way to keep ahead of that curve, especially in the current Covid world. I'm very keen on the chances of Tottenham in this one but will be waiting for the confirmed line-ups before having a play myself. Spurs have not played since December 5 - a huge advantage against a Leicester team that will be playing their third game in six days - but there is an unknown about which players are available. Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane and Lucas Moura have the ability to rip through such a leaky defence but if one or even two of them are unavailable, the lack of strength in depth in reserve would put me off investing in the away win.
The 'never trust one run' theory applies here to Leicester, who roared back to form with goals galore and a clean sheet against Newcastle but it only told half the story. There was nothing in the game up until the dubious penalty call and Leicester then went onto play very savvy and clinical football on the counter to rack up a highly-flattering 4-0 score. Newcastle won the shot count, corner count and had more possession, although Leicester did carry significantly more quality in the final third.
A well-rested Spurs will pose a bigger task for Leicester to break down under Antonio Conte, who has overseen an incredible defensive process since he was appointed. In four games, Spurs have conceded just once with their expected goals against figures and shots faced numbers only bettered by Manchester City and Liverpool during that period. They will allow Leicester more of the ball, too, something the Foxes can struggle with at home where their counter-attack is nullified. They have only won one of their last six games when enjoying more than 50 per cent of the ball, failing to beat Aston Villa, Southampton, Burnley, Brighton and Arsenal - teams you would expect Leicester to be putting away.
The 11/8 for Tottenham draw no bet is on my radar as is the 4/6 for Tottenham to win or draw, all team news dependent of course.
SCORE PREDICTION: 0-1
BETTING ANGLE: Tottenham draw no bet (11/8 with Sky Bet)
Opta stats
- Leicester have won two of their last four Premier League games against Tottenham (L2), as many as they had in their previous 12 against them (D3 L7).
- Tottenham won this exact fixture 4-2 in May last season, last winning back-to-back away league games against Leicester in October 2003/December 2014.
- Since Leicester returned to the Premier League in 2014, their 14 meetings with Tottenham have produced 54 goals - only Arsenal vs Liverpool (62) and Crystal Palace vs Liverpool (55) have seen more goals scored in the competition in that time.
- Leicester have lost just one of their last eight midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League games (W4 D3), going down 2-1 at Chelsea in May. The Foxes have won their last two Premier League games on a Thursday, this after having failed to win any of their first five such games in the competition beforehand (D3 L2).
- Tottenham have lost five of their last eight away midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League games (W2 D1), more than they had in their previous 21 such games in the competition (W13 D4 L4).
