Leicester v Tottenham predictions: Mass absentees could lead to fewer goals

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 3, 7.30pm Thursday

Best bet

Under 2.5 goals
1pt 6-5 Betfair

Team news

Leicester
Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu (both hamstring) have joined Wesley Fofana and James Justin on the sidelines and there has been a Covid-19 outbreak at the club. There are doubts over Jannik Vestergaard, Ayoze Perez, Ademola Lookman, Daniel Amartey, Kelechi Iheanacho, Hamza Choudhury and Filip Benkovic, who were unavailable at the weekend.

Tottenham
Tottenham's training ground has reopened after the Covid-19 outbreak but the players rated doubtful include Son Heung-Min, Oliver Skipp, Dane Scarlett, Lucas Moura, Bryan Gil and Emerson Royal. Cristian Romero is a definite absentee.

Match preview

The King Power Stadium is set to host a clash between two severely depleted teams and the upshot could be a scrappy, low-scoring game.

There has been a lot of focus on Tottenham's Covid outbreak, which forced the postponement of their Europa Conference League clash at home to Rennes and their scheduled Premier League trip to Brighton.

But Leicester have also been one among the teams worst hit by a combination of Covid and injuries, and they triumphed 4-0 at home to Newcastle on Sunday despite the absence of a raft of senior players.

Foxes academy graduates Ben Nelson and Kasey McAteer were included among the weekend substitutes and McAteer made his Leicester debut when replacing James Maddison in the 88th minute.

Leicester's defensive resources became especially stretched when Jonny Evans succumbed to a hamstring injury but they managed to adjust, with midfielder Wilfred Ndidi slotting into the back four, and registered a much-needed victory even if the scoreline was hugely flattering.

The three points moved Leicester back into the top half and were a timely boost for morale just three days after a 3-2 loss at Napoli put then out of the Europa League.

However, the Foxes need to kick on if they are to match pre-season expectations and they will probably face stiffer opposition against Spurs, even if the Londoners are without several first-choice players.

Antonio Conte arrived at Tottenham in early November but has made a noticeable impact on results and performance.

His team have collected ten points from a possible 12 – getting them right back into the mix for a top four finish – and will be as well prepared as possible, even if enforced changes have to be made.

Conte is building from the back and Spurs have conceded just one goal in their last four league games – the minimum he expects is that his players remain competitive and tough to beat.

They showed those qualities in a gritty 0-0 draw at Everton last month and more of the same could contribute to a tight affair against Leicester with clear-cut chances and goals likely to be in short supply.

Key stat

Tottenham have kept three clean sheets in their last four fixtures

Inside info

Leicester

Penalty taker Jamie Vardy
Free-kick wizard James Maddison
Set-piece aerial threat Caglar Soyuncu
Card magnet Wilfred Ndidi

Tottenham

Penalty taker Harry Kane
Free-kick wizardEric Dier
Set-piece aerial threatHarry Kane
Card magnetPierre-Emile Hojbjerg

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