Leicester vs Tottenham: Preview, predictions and lineups

After a largely positive first season under Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham Hotspur kick off the Australian’s second campaign at the helm with a trip to Leicester City this Monday.

Spurs’ 2024/25 Premier League opener sees them make the tricky trip to newly-promoted Leicester City, a fixture they lost 4-1 on their most recent journey to the King Power Stadium. Having just missed out on Champions League qualification last season, the Lilywhites will be desperate to breach the top four come the end of campaign.

The acquisition of sharpshooter Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth will certainly help their chances. Spurs lacked an orthodox number nine last term but appear to have fixed that particular issue with the 26-year-old, who scored 19 Premier League goals in 2023/24.

Despite winning the Championship title last season, Leicester’s return to the top flight comes with trepidation. The Foxes could yet face a points deduction, have had to replace Enzo Maresca with Steve Cooper and have been underwhelming in pre-season. They will be firmly in a relegation battle come May if they don’t make a fast start.

Here is 90min’s guide to Leicester vs Tottenham this Monday.

Leicester vs Tottenham H2H Record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

Leicester are likely to be without four players for the visit of Spurs, including forward duo Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka. Both are doubtful with minor injuries, meaning there could be a surprise start for Tom Cannon on Monday evening.

Backup goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk is out for the long term after undergoing surgery and centre-back Conor Coady is also missing for at least the next three or four weeks.

Cooper will be tempted to hand competitive debuts to new signings Caleb Okoli, Bobby Decordova-Reid and Facundo Buonanotte, the latter having recently signed on loan from Brighton.

Leicester predicted lineup vs Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Winks; Fatawu, Buonanotte, Mavididi; Cannon.

Tottenham don’t have many injury concerns heading into their opener but they could be short up top. Richarlison has missed pre-season through injury and may not be fit enough to feature against Leicester, while new signing Solanke is nursing a minor foot injury – although Postecoglou has hinted at him starting in the Midlands.

If neither forward is available then Dejan Kulusevski will feature in a false nine role, as he has done in pre-season. James Maddison is likely to turn out against his former club for the first time, while new signing Archie Gray could get a debut against a team he knows well from his time at Leeds United.

Yves Bissouma has been suspended by Spurs for Monday’s match following a video emerging of the midfielder using nitrous oxide.

Tottenham predicted lineup vs Leicester (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Gray; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Solanke.

Leicester’s clashes with Tottenham tend to produce goals – 28 in the last five meetings to be precise – but Cooper will be desperate to make this game as tight and scrappy as possible. With injuries up top and goalless outings in their last three pre-season friendlies, defence is likely to be prioritised against an attack-minded Spurs side.

However, there is only so much that Leicester’s defence will be able to do and Tottenham should find a way to make their superior quality count. Son Heung-min has scored five times in his last three meetings with the Foxes and could be the difference-maker again for the north Londoners.

Prediction: Leicester 1-2 Tottenham

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