Spurs were deeply disappointing last week as we were humbled by Manchster United at Old Trafford. Now, a week on, Spurs need to be ready to react against a rock bottom Leicester side. Nigel Pearson’s team have not on a match in any competition since they shocked Tottenham in the FA cup at White Hart Lane with two late goals in January. Now, Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping to stop them repeating the trick and guide us to all three points in a game we really should be winning if we intend to finish the league season on a positive note. Below is the team news and my predicted line up. Come on you Spurs!
Team News:
Mauricio Pochettino has reported that Roberto Soldado is likely to be the only absentee for Spurs.
Predicted Line-Up (4-2-3-1):
Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris
Our captain, our saviour on many occasions, Hugo will obviously be starting and will hope to keep a first clean sheet since our 3-0 win over West Brom in January.
Defenders: Kyle Walker, Eric Dier, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose
Kyle Walker- Lucky he doesn’t have stiffer competition at this moment in time with Deandre Yedlin still adjusting to life in England, otherwise he may have found himself out of the team. Walker was all over the place at Old Trafford and will be hoping to put in a performance to convince Pochettino he is the permenant solution at RB.
Eric Dier- Like most of our defence, Eric also struggled to contain Manchster United’s attacking play last week and will be one of the many looking to react. He is still young and clearly very talented and I expect him to continue ahead of Federico Fazio at CB.
Jan Vertonghen- Probably our best CB, Jan will be hoping for a much more comfortable afternoon than last week. He will have to keep an eye on Ulloa, who scored in our last Premier League outing against Leicester.
Danny Rose- Tottenham fans can consider themselves lucky that our best defender on current form will be facing then most dangerous player Leicester have to offer in Mahrez. Rose gave the best account of himself out of anyone in a Spurs shirt at Old Trafford and will be disappointed not to have earnt an England call up in midweek.
Midfielders: Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb
Ryan Mason- Another player who may feel he did enough to earn an England call up midweek , Mason will be hoping to drive Spurs forward against Leicester, as when he is on his game Spurs are a much more positive and pressurising force going forward.
Nabil Bentaleb- After a rare error that gifted United their third goal last week, it should not be forgotten how much Nabil has improved and contributed this season. He will surely start and look to shake off last weeks dip with a composed and assured midfield performance.
Attackers- Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen, Nacer Chadli
Erik Lamela- He’s been out of the team for the last few weeks but after Townsend was hauled off after only half an hour last week i see this as a good opportunity for Erik to step back into the team and try and nail down a place with a good performance.
Christian Eriksen- Seems to be taking his time getting going in games lately after subdued first half performances against Swansea and QPR only to improve as the games went on. However he certainly has been a lot quieter recently and will be looking to rectify that this weekend, after he proved to be the matdh winner last time out against these opponents.
Nacer Chadli- I have said a fair few times already but Nacer is another player who will be looking to bounce back after a difficult outing at Old Trafford. He has massively improved this season with 10 goals to his name, a goal return he will be confident off adding to this weekend.
Striker- Harry Kane
Harry’s rise has been monumental and this was recognised midweek with a first ever England call up. All Kane can do now is continue to perform as he looks to close out a remarkable breakthrough season by passing the 30 goal Mark. Leicester will not be looking forward to seeing him running at them.
