Are the Foxes and Spurs going to have another goal festival?
The table in the English Premier League paints an extremely distorted picture and that will not change any time soon. There are still countless catch-up games on the schedule, some teams still have four or five games to play. On Wednesday evening from 20:30, two teams with international ambitions face each other at the King Power Stadium – Leicester welcome Tottenham.
Both teams have currently played 18 games and accordingly still have four catch-up games against, for example, Manchester City, Chelsea or West Ham up their sleeve. For the international ambitions of both teams, basically only a win counts on Wednesday. Leicester are currently only in tenth place, while Tottenham’s situation looks much more comfortable in sixth place. In particular, the Conte eleven has the Champions League starting place in sight with good results in the catch-up games.
Despite home advantage, the bookies see the visitors as surprisingly clear favourites between Leicester and Tottenham according to current odds. Leicester have won their last three home games at the King Power Stadium, but Spurs have been on the up since the Conte takeover and are without defeat in eight PL games.
Leicester – Statistics & current form
Slowly but surely, time is running out for the Foxes as head coach Brendan Rodgers’ side also find themselves in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa Conference League. Given the qualities at Leicester, the team can certainly challenge for the title in the new competition. However, strain will become a major issue for Vardy & Co. in the coming weeks and months, as recovery time will be scarce given the number of games outstanding.
Three home wins in a row
Tenth place in the table is by no means set in stone, but what is certain is that Rodgers’ eleven has fallen short of expectations this season compared to recent years. Last year, the team had ten points more on its credit side after 18 games. At least the home strength could be regained recently and the games against Liverpool (1-0), Newcastle (4-0) and Watford (4-2) were won in front of the home crowd.
With five wins, one draw and three defeats, the home record is clearly positive. In view of this, the odds of over 3.00 for a home win against Leicester against Tottenham are a little surprising. It should be noted, however, that two of the three home defeats in 2021/22 were against teams from the capital (Chelsea and Arsenal).
Vardy missing – Maddison in top form
For the last few days at least, the workload has not been an issue for Leicester’s professionals, with the 4-1 cup win over Watford (8 January) being their only competitive game so far in 2022. Match practice is certainly lacking for the hosts in this clash. In addition, Brendan Rodgers will not only have to do without the long-term injured Fofana, Evans or Pereira, but Daniel Amartey and Kelechi Iheneacho are away at the Africa Cup, and top scorer Jamie Vardy is injured. On the other hand, James Maddison has been in great form lately, scoring seven goals in the last six PL matches.
Predicted Leicester line-up:
Schmeichel – Bertrand, Söyüncü, Vestergaard, Castagne – Soumare, Tielemans – Barnes, Maddison, Lookman – Daka
Last matches played by Leicester:
FA Cup
01/08 2022 – Leicester 4 – 1 Watford
Premier League
12/28 2021 – Leicester 1 – 0 Liverpool FC
12/26 2021 – Manchester City 6 – 3 Leicester
Carabao Cup
12/22 2021 – Liverpool FC (5)3 – 3(4) Leicester
Premier League
12/12 2021 – Leicester 4 – 0 Newcastle United
Tottenham – Statistics & current form
In a table purely based on losing points, Tottenham Hotspurs are now already in third place. They are ten points behind city rivals Chelsea, but Tottenham, like Leicester, still have four games to play. One advantage over the Foxes is certainly that the Conte eleven can concentrate on the league in the spring of 2022. In the Conference League, the out came at the green table as the catch-up game against Stade Renns could not be played on time.
Under Conte still without defeat
The upturn in fortunes in recent weeks can be attributed to the signing of coach Antonio Conte. After leading Inter Milan to the championship and voluntarily resigning, he remained only briefly without a job. As Mourinho’s successor, he provided an upswing at Spurs. Although the 52-year-old Italian had to cope with elimination in the League Cup semi-final against his former club Chelsea, things are going like clockwork in the league.
Spurs have now played eight league games under Conte and have collected 18 out of a possible 24 points. Conte is thus on a record-breaking run; only twice has a coach who took over a club in the middle of the season had a longer start without defeat (Solskjaer with twelve games, Tuchel with ten). In the visitors’ favour is not only their upward form, but also the fact that Harry Kane is gradually convincing himself again. Now his absolute favourite opponent awaits, as he has scored 17 times in 16 games against the Foxes so far, eleven in the last eight games alone.
Predicted Tottenham line-up:
Lloris – Sanchez, Dier, Davies – Reguilon, Höjbjerg, Skipp, Emerson – Lucas Moura, Son – Kane
Last matches played by Tottenham:
Carabao Cup
01/12 2022 – Tottenham 0 – 1 Chelsea London
FA Cup
01/09 2022 – Tottenham 3 – 1 Morecambe
Carabao Cup
01/05 2022 – Chelsea London 2 – 0 Tottenham
Premier League
01/01 2022 – Watford 0 – 1 Tottenham
12/28 2021 – Southampton 1 – 1 Tottenham
Leicester – Tottenham Direct Comparison / H2H Record
Fans of attacking football take note – Wednesday night is a must-watch fixture. Since the Foxes’ Premier League return in the summer of 2014, there have been 14 league games between these two sides. No fewer than 54 goals have been scored, giving an average of 3.85 goals per game. In this period, there were only three other matches in which more goals were scored. In view of these figures, the odds on Leicester vs. Tottenham to go over 2.5, but also over 3.5, seem very interesting.
Leicester – Tottenham Tip
Generally, these two teams are on a very similar level, but the bookmakers still see the bet on the visitors as the best option for Leicester against Tottenham. This is due to the home side’s personnel problems and their lack of match practice. Rodgers’ eleven has only played one match in 2022 and the lack of rhythm is definitely a disadvantage for the hosts. Still, we will refrain from making a prediction on the three-way market.
The head-to-head comparison between the two teams suggests a goal festival in Wednesday’s catch-up game. While Tottenham have yet to display their usual scoring threat away from home (seven goals in eight games), this game pits two match-winning sides against each other looking for the way forward. The many goals in the direct duels are the logical consequence of this. Finally, the betting odds on the over 3.5 for Leicester against Tottenham are a pure value bet. A 2.95 is too high in view of the direct comparison and quite promising according to statistics.
