Spurs travel to the King Power Stadium tomorrow afternoon to take on a resurgent Leicester City in the latest round of Premier League fixtures, with the match kicking off in the East Midlands at 3 PM BST.
Both sides have shaken off their recent mid-winter slumps to a certain extent, with Spurs obviously riding high after consecutive victories in tough fixtures against Fulham and Man City, while Leicester overcame tricky opponents of their own with a chaotic 4-2 win at Villa Park last weekend.
Both teams will therefore feel confident of doing damage to their opponent on the day, and, given the traditionally high-scoring nature of this fixture – indeed, 23 goals have been scored in this encounter in its last four incarnations – one would not be unwise to expect a goal-fest again tomorrow.
The hosts will be buoyed by the impressive start to life made by their three new signings, including defensive duo Victor Kristiansen and Harry Soutar, and Brazilian livewire Tete, who scored on his debut in last Saturday’s victory at Villa Park.
Despite that, the Villa match still served as evidence that defensive frailties still remain part and parcel of Leicester’s identity this season, so Spurs, with a fully-fit Dejan Kukusevski, a reinvigorated Heung-min Son, and the now record-goalscorer Harry Kane, will still be licking their lips at the prospect of facing a side they slammed six past back in September.
However, this accusation of defensive frailty can equally be leveled at Spurs, who will be missing two key components of their defence in the suspended Cristian Romero and the crocked Hugo Lloris, who faces up to 6-8 weeks out with a knee injury (although the latter blow may be deemed as a boost by certain segments of the fanbase).
Yves Bissouma will also miss out as he prepares to undergo surgery on an ankle problem that has been plaguing him for a few months now, while it remains to be seen whether Antonio Conte will return to the dugout following his gallbladder removal.
For me, two big questions face Spurs going into this one. First is the matter of whether they can follow up their recently resilient defensive performances against Fulham, Preston, and Man City in the absence of Romero and Lloris. While one expects that chances are likely to arrive in abundance against an open Leicester side, questions still abound as to Spurs’ capacity to retain defensive consistency against a dangerous attacking outfit.
Secondly, will the lads maintain full focus for the entire 90 minutes as they have done in the past three games? With a trip to AC Milan in the Champions League looming, will this prove a distraction to the players or will they keep their heads, just as they did so impressively on Sunday evening?
If Spurs can answer yes to both questions, then nothing can stop them from leaving the East Midlands with three points that will put them in the top four, if only for a few hours.
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