Leicester City face their second ‘cup final’ in four days on Sunday when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur in their final away game of the season.
Following Thursday evening’s 2-0 victory over Sheffield United, Brendan Rodgers‘ men will contest at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time and will be hoping to earn another vital three points towards Champions League qualification.
The Foxes have not won away at Spurs since the 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane in 2016. Since then, the North London side have came out on top in recent encounters.
However, City defeated their opponents in September at King Power Stadium courtesy of James Maddison’s rocket into the bottom corner. Since then, Spurs are now managed by Jose Mourinho, who has won seven of his nine meetings with the Foxes.
Mourinho’s only defeat to Leicester came in 2015 as Chelsea manager when goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez resulted in the former-Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid manager being relieved of his duties at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese’s record against City won’t shine well with the Foxes faithful and will a top-four finish on the line, Rodgers’ side must win their first game over Mourinho for the first time in six games.
Leicester City head-to-head with Spurs
In the previous 51 meetings between the two sides at Tottenham, Leicester have come out on top 16 times. Their last victory being in 2016 thanks to a Robert Huth header.
Last season, goals from Davinson Sanchez, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-Min helped Mauricio Pochettino’s men to a hard-fought victory over Claude Puel’s side.
Before September, Tottenham had gone three games unbeaten against the East Midlanders, including the entertaining 5-4 end of the season victory in 2018.
When at home, the Whites have scored 105 goals against City, averaging 2.06 goals per game. Whilst Leicester have only managed 79 goals, an average of 1.55 per game.
A result that Spurs fans won’t be forgetting is the 6-1 demolition at King Power in 2017. Following Claudio Ranieri’s dismissal, Craig Shakespeare was handed the task to keep the club in the Premier League. In which he did.
Harry Kane bagged four goals in a perfect performance for the visitors to earn their 25th win of the season. Since then, the Foxes have enjoyed better meetings, including the 2-1 victory in November 2017.
If Rodgers’ side win on Sunday, it will be the club’s first league double of the London-side since 1998/99. Back in 1999, Matt Elliot and Tony Cottee scored as Martin O’Neil’s men took a massive step towards a top-10 finish.
Form and team news
Leicester City come into the game on mixed form. Despite beating Sheffield United on Thursday, a disappointing result at Bournemouth followed a draw at Arsenal.
Winless their last seven Premier League away games, the Foxes have failed to win their final away fixture of the season since their 4-2 win at Blackburn Rovers in 1997.
Despite their poor form against Mourinho, Rodgers has enjoyed success over Tottenham: winning his last six Premier League matches against Spurs, with an aggregate score of 20-5.
Tottenham are looking for their fourth consecutive league win at their new stadium for the first time after beating West Ham, Everton and Arsenal since the restart. With a Europa League space still up for grabs, Spurs will have to win only their third game against a team in the top eight of the table. A statistic that may favour the Foxes.
Rodgers announced on Thursday that James Maddison, Ben Chilwell and Christian Fuchs will all miss the rest of the season. With Caglar Soyuncu suspended, it is likely the team that defeat the Blades will start on Sunday. For Mourinho, Lucas Moura is a doubt following a slight knock picked up in their 3-1 win at Newcastle United.