Premier League: COVID-Stricken Tottenham Hope to Make Winning Return Against Leicester

Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham are slated to take on Leicester City this Thursday for what could be their first game in nearly two weeks following a COVID-19 outbreak from their training ground.

With several Spurs testing positive for the coronavirus in these past few days, Antonio Conte’s side saw their Premier League game against Brighton and their Europa Conference League match against Rennes called off.

This also means that they haven’t practiced much, although they are well-rested compared to Leicester City.

Assuming things go according to plan, this Premier League fixture pits together two teams who are seeking to gain ground as the Spurs are at seventh with 25 points while the Foxes are behind them with 22.

These two teams are vying for a place in Europe and given that they’re within arm’s reach to the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, and West Ham, a victory here would prove to be vital.

Read on below as SBOTOP examines these two clubs here in this match preview.

Talking Points

Leicester City prepare for tough stretch to end 2021

Brendan Rodgers’ side is planning to close out 2021 on a strong note. After this game, the Foxes have tough fixtures ahead since they’ll face Everton, Liverpool (twice), and Manchester City.

Leicester City’s recent stretch of results have highlighted their inconsistency as they’re winless in three of their last four matches in all competitions.

When they were dealt with a stinging loss by Napoli which sent them down to the Europa Conference League last week, Leicester City vented their ire against a cellar-dwelling Newcastle United in what was one of their best outings so far this season.

Youri Tielemans had a brace while Patson Daka and James Maddison added goals of their own to dismantle the Magpies, who remain at the relegation zone despite winning over Burnley days earlier.

Top scorer Jamie Vardy – with nine goals and one assist – will look to get back on the scoring column given that he has yet to find the back of the net for the month of December and he’ll be joined once again by Daka, Maddison, and Tielemans.

The said quartet would have to do the heavy lifting since they’ll be missing several men due to COVID-19 in Kelechi Iheanacho, Ademola Lookman, and Ayoze Perez.

Tottenham ravaged by COVID-19

Since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo last November, Antonio Conte have improved Tottenham to a large degree as they’re unbeaten in their last three league matches.

Granted, that those three games came against various bottom-half clubs, Spurs fans will take it since it saw their team move up to the table.

But Tottenham’s progress was halted due to a COVID-19 outbreak as Heung-Min Son, Emerson Royal, Lucas Moura, Bryan Gil, Ben Davies, and Cristian Romero were among those who tested positive.

There’s good news, however, as they’ve returned to training last Sunday – giving fresh hope that they’ll be able to pick up where they left off starting this Thursday.

History

Historically, Tottenham have had Leicester City’s number but the latter has shown improvement in the overall head-to-heads these past few seasons.

Since going on a 10-game drought against Spurs, the Foxes have won two of their last four Premier League games against them with the other two being losses.

Their most recent meeting took place in May last term where Tottenham secured a 4-2 victory to ruin Leicester City’s Champions League aspirations.

Despite having the lead thanks to Jamie Vardy’s goals, the Foxes couldn’t hold on as scores from Harry Kane and Gareth Bale and Kasper Schmeichel’s own goal completed the Spurs’ comeback.

Betting Tip

	Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur	1X2 Draw @ 3.40
	December 17, 03:30 (GMT+8)

The Premier League 2021 odds expect a tight match this Thursday, tipping Leicester City as the slight favourites at 2.17 while their visitors in Tottenham are priced at 3.20 in the 1×2 market.

When fully healthy, both sides possess a bountiful of attacking talent and hopefully that will be the case so that football fans can see a lot of Premier League 2021 highlights.

But given that they’re in similar situations and the fact that the status of this contest has yet to be fully confirmed, the winner of this affair is hard to tell for now and perhaps going for a draw at 3.40 seemingly feels like a safe bet.

This will be pretty much a battle of attrition and whoever comes into this game fitter is sure to take home all three points, although we wouldn’t be surprised either is this match is going to be postponed.

 

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