Tottenham Hotspur host Leicester City in a matchup of the 2015-16 Premier League champions, and the last team that stood in the way of their 5,000-1 long shot glory. The Foxes currently sit 11th in the table, but they have been an exceedingly dangerous team for the proverbial big six clubs to play lately.
Leicester lost to Manchester United last weekend, but they battled Liverpool to a draw in the previous fixture, beat league leaders Manchester City on Boxing Day, and defeated top four side Chelsea four days prior to that. Mauricio Pochettino will certainly not be taking Leicester lightly, although Spurs do have the self-assurance of having won the reverse fixture 2-0 in early December.
Let’s take a look at the team news and fitness situation for both sides.
Spurs are still without their two biggest name players, Harry Kane and Dele Alli, until at least March, while defender Ben Davies continues to battle with a strained groin. Don’t expect him to feature in this one. Otherwise Pochettino has a pretty healthy side, and plenty of players to select from.
Flipping over to the visitors, versatile defender Daniel Amartey will be sidelined for at least a month after undergoing surgery to repair a broken ankle.
Also winger Marc Albrighton is out, with no timeline for return established after he developed up a hamstring issue in training this past Saturday.
Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur FC FYIs
Kick-off: Sunday February 10, Wembley Stadium 1:30 pm (BST), 8:30 am (EST)
Odds via Bet Way: Tottenham Hotspur 4/6, Draw 11/4, Leicester City 9/2
Form: Tottenham Hotspur WLWWW, Leicester City WLLDL
Google Result Probability: Liverpool win 58%, Draw 25%, Leicester City win 17%
Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Press conference videos, quotes: coming Friday
Prediction: Leicester City 3, Tottenham Hotspur 2
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.