3 Non-negotiable Leicester starters for Tottenham game

The King Power side are ravaged by injuries to key players, the loss of several players to expiring contracts, and the sale of midfield maestro Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The club are probably unprepared for a reunion with James Maddison and his Tottenham Hotspur teammates. The London club performed well last campaign, and have only strengthened in the market.

Nevertheless, there is work that the Welsh head coach can do to help the Foxes stand a chance against Spurs. The primary of which is starting three players that can bring passion, energy, and technical excellence to the side, if at the expense of experience.

Leicester City injuries

First though, a brief reminder of the injuries Steve Cooper will have to navigate. Jamie Vardy is ruled out for at least a couple of weeks, so will not feature against Spurs. Patson Daka has undergone an ankle surgery so shall be out for months. Whereas in defence Conor Coady has also suffered a setback so will be unavailable for selection. These three injuries cause a massive headache: each are the best options we have in their respective positions (Vardy of course ahead of Daka).

As a result, it is possibly too easy to guess which players Leicester City will deploy in replacement of them. As we have seen in pre-season, Cooper has opted for Stephy Mavididi in the striker position ahead of actual striker Tom Cannon (likely as Cannon is expected to go out on loan), and at the back the Foxes are fairly well-equipped with centre-backs of quality plus a new signing in Caleb Okoli.

These players must start

The King Power club cannot rely on purely Premier League experienced players to achieve a positive result against Spurs. Instead, Leicester ought to look for technically excellent, passionate, and energetic players who can push our opponents hard, pass quickly, and keep going throughout the tie.

This is where Kasey McAteer comes in. If Mavididi is to start upfront, it would be prudent to not overly disrupt what worked so well in the previous season under former manager Enzo Maresca: McAteer, Abdul Fatawu, and Mavididi. All three were great wingers that scored goals, brought the ball forward.

As such, instead of playing one of our academy breakout stars grossly out of position or not at all in favour of the experienced Bobby De-Cordova Reid, it would be better to play him in the LW position and keep Fatawu playing on the right. That gives Leicester City a progressive, high-intensity, and already well-connected forward line built over the course of a season, rather than the rather shaky pre-season.

Secondly then, Caleb Okoli should start ahead of Jannik Vestergaard. This is not to say the Italian is necessarily better than the Dane, but what he does have is faster legs and a stronger danger-sense. That is to say, Okoli can disrupt opposition play and rush into better positions faster than Vestergaard can. Against a strong Tottenham attack, the Foxes ought to rely on that characteristic over the experience of the Dane.

Finally, I believe Leicester should start Boubakary Soumare. Yes, the player who probably does not want to stay with the Foxes. 'Bouba' is a progressive midfielder, who although does not score many goals, does have a high pass completion rate. The benefit of that should be obvious: Leicester City should aim to retain the ball when they have it to prevent Spurs' best players getting on the ball too much. A strong passer matched with another strong passer in Harry Winks should be the priority in midfield.

Hence, Steve Cooper would be wise to play Mads Hermansen in goal, a back four of James Justin, Okoli, Wout Faes, and Ricardo Pereira, a midfield trio of Winks, Soumare, and Wilfred Ndidi, and a forward line of McAteer, Mavididi, and Fatawu. A strong team with a balance of experience and energy.