What Can We Expect from Leicester City at Tottenham Sunday?

In what is sure to be an interesting game of cat and mouse, Leicester wants to break you down on possession while Tottenham wants to pounce.

Tottenham Hotspur host Leicester City on Sunday in a top four showdown between two teams that employ similar yet differing footballing philosophies. In some respects, Leicester City are a team that reminds you our own Tottenham Hotspur, with a strong striker, experienced keeper, and some bright young midfielders. However, Leicester City employ a style more like that of Liverpool than Tottenham in their approach to football.

The big difference between the approach of Leicester and Liverpool is coaching where Brendan Rodgers is much more like José Mourinho than Jürgen Klopp. Like Mourinho, Rodgers will look to set-up his team how he thinks is best for that match, as opposed to Klopp’s one-size-fits-all approach. That said, like Liverpool, Leicester City is looking to outscore you and win.

With attention to detail, and an aggressive game plan just for Spurs in mind, what can we expect when Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday?

Expect an Open Match

Styles make matchups and this should be a good one, where both teams want the ball to some extent, although Spurs less so. As Leicester look to probe and Spurs look to pounce the game should open and produce some fun football to watch. With as much talent on the park as the two teams have, it should make for a fast paced, back-and-forth approach to the match.

The game is most likely to won in the middle of the pitch and the teams whose midfield is better able to control the ball and pace of the match is going to give their side a real advantage. With as strong of a center as Leicester have, Tottenham will have their work cut out for them.

Expect Some Goals

Both Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur have been scoring goals this season with both teams just a bit under a 2 goal per game average. Spurs have scored 25 goals while Leicester is just one behind with 24. Tottenham is just ahead of Leicester with 1.92 goals scored per match compared to the Foxes 1.85 goals.

However, it is the defensive end where Tottenham have a real edge. Spurs are currently conceding less than 1 goal per match at a .86 average goals against on the season. While Leicester are solid defensively, they are not nearly as stiff as Spurs giving up 1.31 goals per match on 17 goals against in 14 games. Regardless, defense will likely be secondary to the offense and the team that reach 3 first, is the most likely to win.

Oh, and speaking of goals, Harry Kane loves facing Leicester as there is no team the Spurs talisman has more goals against than Leicester who he has scored against 16 times. Kane of course headlines our projected XI for the match.

Expect a Penalty

While the rules have seemingly relaxed a bit on a draconian handball interpretation, with nine penalty makes between the two teams this season, it is likely we see a penalty. Leicester city has already converted an incredible 7 spot kicks this season while Kane has dispatched two for Spurs.

Ideally there is not going to be a penalty kick because it seems Leicester would be the more likely of the two sides – based on trends this season – to get the call for one or more at this point. However, given the testiness this affair is likely to bring, a penalty kick would not surprise me.

Expect a Winner

With Leicester City it is kind of all or nothing. Leicester are currently second only to Liverpool with eight wins in League on the season. However, the Foxes also have more losses than any other team in the top half with five. At this point Leicester is the only team to have not drawn a match so far. While there are eight teams – including Tottenham – who have drawn at least 4 matches already, Leicester remains that different beast.

Expect Tottenham to be Winner

Given everything that is going on at N17, Spurs need a win in a big way. Having dropped 5 points over the last two matches, Spurs are suddenly back of Liverpool and sitting with the rest of the pack.

A win would help to create a little breathing room and remove some of the bad taste that may still remain from the Liverpool loss. While a clean sheet would be nice it is unlikely given everything Leicester City bring but Spurs still win 3-1.