Foxes of Leicester
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Preview: Leicester City Vs Tottenham Hotspur

By Harneet Singh Sethi

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: James Maddison of Leicester City celebrates with team mates Demarai Gray and Shinji Okazaki after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Leicester City at Craven Cottage on December 5, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: James Maddison of Leicester City celebrates with team mates Demarai Gray and Shinji Okazaki after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Leicester City at Craven Cottage on December 5, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
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Unbeaten in seven games but engulfed in crisis. For Leicester City, not losing simply isn’t enough these days.

But not losing may indeed be enough against Tottenham Hotspur, who currently sit third in the Premier League table – six places and nine points above Leicester.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side were annihilated by their North London rivals Arsenal last Sunday, but they bounced back well with a 3-1 win over a lowly Southampton. There is every reason to believe that the scoreline would be as emphatic – and just as much in Spurs’ favour as well.

However, it is not to be forgotten that Tottenham also play FC Barcelona in a must-win UEFA Champions League fixture on Tuesday. It might mean that Pochettino has to rest some, if not all, of his main players to keep them fresh for a game that’s clearly more important for multiple reasons.

This is something that Leicester can look to benefit from. Even if Tottenham surprisingly go with a strong XI, then the home side can take a lot of inspiration from their 2-1 win in this fixture last year.

Main man

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 05: James Maddison of Leicester City celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Leicester City at Craven Cottage on December 5, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 05: James Maddison of Leicester City celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Leicester City at Craven Cottage on December 5, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /

James Maddison’s equaliser against Fulham was his fifth in the Premier League, making him Leicester’s joint-top goalscorer this season alongside Jamie Vardy. With the 32-year old still injured, a lot will yet again come down to Maddison.

It is not just an opinion but a fact that the 22-year old is now Leicester’s most important player, and what he does, or what he doesn’t do will affect the way his side play against Tottenham.

Pochettino will definitely look to take the no.10 out of the game, but he has so far been so good against each of the top six team that he has faced. In big games, this guy’s a very good bet.

Quotes

"“It’s never a good time to play a top of the table team. They have a big squad. They have international players,” said Claude Puel.“It’s not a problem for them to play every three or four days. We will need lots of quality, with and without the ball.“We had good performances against United, Arsenal and Liverpool without having success. I hope we can find the solution tomorrow.”"

Next. Ricardo Pereira, Demarai Gray’s rest/rotation for Leicester City explained. dark

Possible XI

Schmeichel; Pereira, Evans, Maguire, Chilwell; Albrighton, Mendy, Ndidi, Gray, Maddison; Iheanacho.