v/s
Tottenham Hotspur
King Power Stadium
14:00 GMT, 22 August 2015
Second placed Leicester City face North London based Spurs who start the game at 14th place. With just two games done in the season, the two teams find each other on opposite side of where they finished last season. Will Leicester continue their good run or will Spurs get their first victory for the season?
Team Tactics and Line-ups
Leicester City
When Claudio Ranieri took over the reins of Leicester City, most critiques seemed to state the club would struggle under the Italian. However, with 6 points and two externally energetic performances, Ranieri has proved them wrong and would look to make it three in a row as his team welcome the Lilywhites from North London. Much like their rivals Tottenham, the foxes too have a poor defensive record, only being outdone by an excellent scoring record.
With a host of new arrivals in the squad, it is most likely that Ranieri will post an unchanged squad, meaning new signings such as Inler will have to be content with a warm seat on the bench. Ranieri is most likely to go with a 4-4-2 formation. With Casper Schmeichel in goal and a four man defensive wall consisting of Wes Morgan and Robert Huth at center-back. The Ghanian, Jeffrey Schlupp, will start on the left side of defence, leaving De Laet to start on the right with the player having struggled in the second half of Leicester’s previous game.
The four man midfield will feature goal scorer Riyad Mahrez on the right who will look to add to his 3 goals from two games. The left footer, employed as a reverse winger, will look to cut in and test Spurs keeper with a set of long range efforts. Englishman Marc Albrighton will feature on the left wing as he too will look for opportunities to use the opposite side to his advantage from set pieces and in swinging crosses. Daniel Drinkwater and Andy King will complete the midfield at the center of the park with the duo alternating on defensive and offensive duties. Marc Albrighton has been exceptional on the left as his teasing crosses and ability to run at defenders is a serious threat to any team. Spurs right back Kyle Walker will have his hands full as he is prone to wander to the opponents half leaving his man free.
The two man strike force consisting of James Vardy and Shinji Okazaki is a potent combination for Leicester. Okazaki with his direct approach and pace will look to be a nuisance to the Tottenham defense while Vardy big and strong will resort to be an aerial threat, having scored a header in the previous game already. Both of Leicestera s strikers have scored a goal each and are high on morale. Their partnership will be key to overcome their visitors Tottenham.
Potential line-up: Schmeichel; De Laet, Huth, Morgan, Schlupp; Mahrez, Drinkwater, King, Albrighton; Vardy, Okazaki.
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Tottenham Hotspur
Mauricio Pochettino is still building his team and is desperately in need of a striker, after having stated that harry Kane wasna t fully fit. Spurs find themselves in a fix as they are desperately in need of an out and out striker. With Soldado dejectedly moving back to his home country and Adebayor happy to collect a pay cheque to play games on his playstation, the responsibility falls on the newly arrived Clinton Na jie who is an unproven talent in the Premier League.
Pochettino, for this game, will stick to the same team that played Stoke City. Employing a 4-2-3-1 formation which at times changes to a 4-2-2, he will look to ensure the teams scores in the first half and hold that lead unlike in the previous game’s second half. In defence, club captain Hugo Lloris will be in goal. Ahead of him will be the back four consisting of Walker and Davies as full-backs and the new central defensive partnership of Alderwiereld and Vertonghen. Although fans ache for the return of Rose and Trippier to replace Walker, the two full backs have been solid in their defensive duties and the goals that have been conceded are due to some else’s errors. Hence, it is highly unlikely that Rose would find himself in the starting line up for now.
Eric Dier has surprised a lot of fans who initially disapproved of him being placed in midfield. However the young English man has proved his versatility by putting up a good show in his new found position. With defense being his strong suit, Dier has done a reasonably god job of covering the back four. However, Alderwiereld, the new Belgian center-half, was recently heard stating that he found it easier to defend at his former club Southampton. This statement has only brought about a new transfer rumour that Spurs are on the lookout for Southamptona s Victor Wanyama. However until any concrete transfer is to occur, Spurs will deploy Dier in the defensive midfield role alongside Ryan Mason who will take up a box to box role, having put up a good performance against Stoke.
The three advanced midfield players will remain unchanged as Pochettino sets to give Dembele another chance in a more attaching position alongside the two top scoring midfielders Chadli and Eriksen, while the fan favourite Harry Kane will play up top as lone striker. However, if the last game’s tactics are anything to go by, we will see Chadli push further up the pitch and Kane dropping a little deeper to make plays and look for rebounds to shoot.
Potential line-up: Lloris; Walker, Alderwireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Mason; Eriksen, Chadli, Dembele; Kane.
Players to watch out for:
Marc Albrighton
Albrighton is currently joint leader for most number of assists in the Premier league. With an exceptional eye to find his teammates within the box, and a set piece specialist, Albrighton will look to put his strikers Okazaki and James Vardy on the scoresheet at every opportunity he gets. Albrighton having a good game will be catalyst to Leicestera s success.
Nacer Chadli
Nacer Chadli was Tottenhama s second top scorer and has already got off the mark with his striker last season. With Kane yet to score and not fully fit, Tottenham will look to their Belgian winger to provide them with goals in order to start the push for their top for finish.
Predictions
Leicester City 2 a 2 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham are starting to look solid every game as the Jan-Toby partnership looks to get stronger. However coming from a 4-2 victory over Sunderland, the Foxes will throw everything including the kitchen sink at the Tottenham defense. The barrage of attacks is bound to lead to a few goals, which Spurs will recover from in the dying minutes of the game.