Tottenham Hotspur vs Leicester City
Spurs and Leicester meet in the Premier League clash of the weekend on Sunday, and for me to say that two teams sitting in second and fourth places need some encouragement may seem odd.
But if these two sides had won their midweek games they would have entered into this contest first and second in the league table, but it’s a case of ‘what might have been’ as they both suffered a dose of Mersey misery. A victory for either at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would be a huge boost, but a defeat would make it a week to forget.
I say ‘clash of the weekend’ but my colleague here at SBOTOP, James, will disagree as there’s the small matter of Manchester United vs Leeds United on the same day!
Rest assured we’ll be all over the Premier League 2020 news and results in another great round of top-flight football, but here and now I’m concentrating on Spurs and Leicester.
Talking Points
Can Mourinho’s Spurs dominate?
Spurs top of the table clash with Liverpool turned out to be a crushing blow to Mourinho’s men when Roberto Firmino scored a 90th-minute winner with a brilliant header to take all three points. Spurs head coach Jose Mourinho wasn’t exactly impressed though as he was left to rue his side’s missed opportunity; and he disagreed with Jurgen Klopp’s assessment that the Reds deserved to win, saying: “I told him the best team lost. He disagreed. That’s his opinion. By the way, if I behaved the way on the touchline like he does I have no chance to stay there – I’m out after a minute. I’m treated different and that’s sad.”
Jose has never been a good loser, which partly explains why he’s been so successful as a manager in Europe. But he plays a certain way, setting his teams up to close the door on their opponents and hit them on the break. That worked like a charm in the North London derby victory over Arsenal, where they had 30 per cent possession and five shots to 13, and in the 0-0 draw with Chelsea with 40 per cent possession and, again, with five attempts on goal to the Blues’ 13.
Even Harry Kane does his bit in defence, and I’m sure Spurs fans who have been starved of success will understand. But against Liverpool, Tottenham had just 25 per cent possession and two attempts on target while keeper Hugo Lloris made nine saves and picked the ball out of the net twice.
The latest Premier League 2020 betting odds on a Spurs win have drifted to 8.00 on the back of that defeat, so a dominant display against Leicester is called for. I don’t necessarily mean interns of possession, more in the number of attempts on goal.
Heung-Min Son was on target again in the loss to Liverpool, and that makes him the joint top scorer in the league, and alongside Kane, surely just a small increase in chances created will pay dividends.
Hot and cold Foxes search for consistency
While Spurs were suffering at the hands of Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City were going down to a disappointing home defeat to Everton. Having beaten Brighton and Sheffield United they were looking for a third successive victory, but before those back-to-back wins the Foxes managed to lose to strugglers Fulham.
Jamie Vardy is in great form again, with 10 goals, and he’ll hope to get behind the Spurs defence, though Mourinho’s set up will make that more difficult. In support of Vardy, the Foxes have an enviable collection of creative forwards but they all misfired against the Toffees and won’t find it any easier in London.
At the other end of the pitch, keeper Kasper Schmeichel made a rare mistake to let in the first goal and Kane and Son will be keen to test his resolve.
History
With 13 wins each from the 32 games played in the Premier League era, and just six draws, we’d hope for a positive result one way or the other, while I suspect Brendan Rodgers wouldn’t be too disappointed to come away with a draw.
Spurs won this fixture, the penultimate match of last season, 3-0, with two goals from Harry Kane and an own goal from James Justin. That was a serious blow to the Foxes who dominated the game with 70 per cent possession and 13 attempts on goal to four, and they followed that up with a loss in the final game to Manchester United which meant they gave up a top-four place that they had held throughout the 2019/20 season.
Spurs have won six home matches in a row and I’m backing them to make it seven.
Betting Tip
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Tottenham Hotspur vs Leicester City | 1X2 Tottenham Hotspur @ 2.06 |
| December 20, 22:15 (GMT+8) |
Both the draw and an away win are at odds of 3.45 but I’m going for a Jose master class. It may not be pretty but I can see the likes of Vardy and Harvey Barnes getting frustrated while Son is just about the most dangerous player you’d ever face on the break.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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