Injuries and absences to play major factor in Tottenham at Leicester City

When Tottenham Hotspur travels to Leicester to take on the Foxes on Wednesday, much of the storyline is the missing players for both teams. 

Tottenham Hotspur was supposed to play Arsenal this past weekend, however, injuries, international duty, and untimely transfers left Arsenal short and Spurs holding another game in hand. Fortunately, for Tottenham, Leicester City has not asked for a postponement, despite many players out themselves.

For the Foxes and to a lesser extent Spurs, their match Wednesday is a game of attrition, as Leicester in particular has been leveled by injuries.

Injuries leave Leicester wounded but ready

Leicester City is one of several Premier League teams with a number of players off at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. The Foxes have four players at AFCON, two of which, Kelechi Iheanacho and Nampaly Mendy have not been integral although, Iheanacho has a couple of goals and four assists. However, midfielder Willfred Ndidi and defender Daniel Amartey, are regular contributors to the squad and will be missed.

As much as anything those four represent numbers, and those numbers are even more important right now for Leicester as they have been beset by injuries.

While Wesley Fofana has been out for some time, it is the accumulation of several new injuries leaving Leicester at less than full strength.  Jonny Evans, Timothy Castagne, Ricardo Pereira, and Ryan Bertrand are all out, leaving Leicester particularly thin in defence.

Even more significant may be the injury to Jamie Vardy, who is expected to be out for a while.

On the bright side, the healthy Leicester players should be fresh having only played 1 match in all of 2022 thus far. Additionally, the Foxes could get a gameday boost if defensive midfielder Boubakary Soumare returns to the team. With Ndidi out, having Soumare partner with Youri Tielemens is a key for Leicester.

If Soumare is out, expect to see 22-year-old Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall next to Tielemans in the midfield. Dewsbury-Hall is capable of doing the job but is better further forward at this point in his career. The other positive for Leicester is that Spurs are not whole either.

Tottenham still suffering from some injuries

Like Leicester, Tottenham is dealing with some injuries and knocks in all three phases of the team. Defensively may be the biggest problem, where Eric Dier will definitely be out and Cristian Romero seems unlikely. Covering for their absences is difficult right now but not impossible in Spurs starting XI

Moving forward, it is likely Sergio Reguilon continues to be unavailable for Tottenham or at least limited, giving an opportunity to Ryan Sessegnon. And of course, Steven Bergwijn has not returned from his own injury and Heung-min Son has been added to the infirmary list too.

Thus while the number of Spurs likely out is not nearly as significant as it is for Leicester City, the importance of the players in critical areas on the pitch is likely to equal to the volume Leicester is dealing with.

While it did not feel like it over the weekend, maybe those days off for Spurs to be a bit fresher for a well-rested Leicester is good. Regardless, the game is going to be different because of the injuries and absences but at least there will be a game.