Two of the Premier League's crisis clubs go in search of long overdue victories on Sunday afternoon, as Tottenham Hotspur host Leicester City in North London.
Ange Postecoglou's team return to familiar turf after edging out Hoffenheim in the Europa League, while the Foxes' failures continued last weekend in a 2-0 home loss to Fulham.
Match preview
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For all of Spurs' Premier League failures over the festive and New Year period, knockout football has provided Postecoglou's men with a safe haven, evidenced by their fourth straight win in such contests on Thursday evening.
Following League Cup successes over Liverpool and Manchester United and their FA Cup beating of Tamworth - albeit a highly unconvincing one - the Lilywhites ran out 3-2 victors on Hoffenheim's soil, where a Son Heung-min double inched them ever closer to a top-eight finish.
While Tottenham's non-Premier League feats have marginally alleviated the pressure on Postecoglou - whose bold second-season trophy claim could still come to fruition - the Australian's side can certainly be considered relegation candidates amid their shocking top-flight predicament.
Last weekend's 3-2 loss to David Moyes's Everton marked the hosts' third defeat on the spin in the Premier League, where they remain winless since demolishing lowly Southampton on December 15, and the Lilywhites are just eight points clear of the drop zone in 15th spot.
In fact, the aforementioned Saints are the only side to have both lost more Premier League games and conceded more Premier League goals than Tottenham since the start of December, and Postecoglou's injury-hit crop have accrued just two points from their last 18 on offer at their home ground.
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As is the case with their hosts, leaky Leicester have only had knockout successes to shout about so far in 2025; a 6-2 decimation of Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup third round is sandwiched in between a harrowing septet of consecutive Premier League losses.
Just three days on from going down 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace, Ruud van Nistelrooy's men suffered the exact same fate when Fulham paid a visit, succumbing to Emile Smith Rowe's brave diving header and an Adama Traore effort in the second 45.
While only Championship-bound Southampton have performed worse than the 19th-placed Foxes this season, the gap to safety is still just two points, and the visitors ought to be encouraged by the fact that Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers face the top two - Liverpool and Arsenal - respectively this weekend.
However, what is not encouraging is a dreadful sequence of just one win from 14 Premier League matches, and Leicester are yet to keep a clean sheet away from home in the 2024-25 top-flight season, losing each of their last five on rival turf.
Speaking of the Foxes shipping goals away from home, they have conceded at least three goals in each of their last five Premier League defeats on Tottenham's turf, although a Steve Cooper-led Leicester outfit came away from August's encounter with a creditable 1-1 draw to their name.
Team News
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Bereft of good news on the injury front for weeks, Tottenham at least had Rodrigo Bentancur and Fraser Forster back from concussion and illness respectively against Hoffenheim, and Postecoglou's midfield ranks could yet be booster further this weekend by the possible returns of Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma from knocks.
Defensive duo Antonin Kinsky and Djed Spence will also return to the fold after missing the Europa League win, where Richarlison completed just under an hour up top as Postecoglou prepares him for his first Premier League start of the season on Sunday.
Indeed, the Spurs boss has now confirmed that Dominic Solanke faces up to six weeks on the sidelines with a new knee injury, joining Guglielmo Vicario (ankle), Cristian Romero (thigh), Micky van de Ven (hamstring), Wilson Odobert (hamstring), Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Brennan Johnson (calf) and Timo Werner (hamstring) in the well-occupied infirmary.
Leicester's injury situation is not quite so debilitating, but the Foxes still cannot call upon Abdul Fatawu (knee), Wilfred Ndidi (thigh) or Ricardo Pereira (thigh), while Mads Hermansen's groin issue is unlikely to heal in time either.
However, new signing Woyo Coulibaly should be eligible to make his Premier League debut this weekend, albeit most likely as a substitute, while both Oliver Skipp and Harry Winks shall reunite with their old employers.
Van Nistelrooy should not be averse to some alterations amid his team's abysmal sequence, although Facundo Buonanotte may not be among the players to benefit following claims that he was on the receiving end of a dressing-down from his manager last weekend.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Kinsky; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Spence; Sarr, Bentancur, Maddison; Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Stolarczyk; Justin, Faes, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Skipp, Soumare; McAteer, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Leicester City
Even in their current state - both fitness-wise and results-wise - a Spurs side who rarely come up short in front of goal should run into few obstacles against an ailing Leicester outfit this weekend.
Postecoglou's men gave themselves a much-needed shot in the arm in midweek and have our backing to ease their demotion fears at the expense of Leicester's.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
