Leicester v Tottenham: Team news, predictions & odds

The game kicks off at 1945 BST at the King Power Stadium, live on Sky Sports 1.

Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur: Our prediction  

2pts over 3.5 goals at 7/4 - should be an entertaining game between two sides full of confidence and missing key defenders 

Our Ben Coley writes... Another bizarre season for Leicester City draws towards a close with a pair of home games, and if they can avoid defeat in this one their prospects of a top-half finish will become extremely solid indeed.

The Foxes currently lie 11th and will be eighth or ninth with a win against Spurs, but a more realistic ambition is to stay where they are with a draw, which would mean a guaranteed 10th or better if they beat Bournemouth on Sunday.

It's possible to argue, then, that with the addition of a manager's job still up for grabs it's Leicester who will arrive on the pitch with the higher levels of motivation, given that Spurs have already secured second place behind champions Chelsea, their best ever Premier League finish.

Except that doesn't really fit the profile of Spurs, who are building something big under Mauricio Pochettino and have done so by aiming high. With four days of the season to go, that means 86 points - a figure which would've won them the title last year. Not that it works like that, of course, but the higher the figure, the greater the achievement.

Of course, simply turning up and putting it all in is by no means certain to secure three points for the visitors, because the key to Leicester's transformation from relegation candidates to top-half probables has been their home form, which is first-class and nothing less.

Since losing to Manchester United in February, they've won six from six domestically and produced a bold display to draw 1-1 with Atletico Madrid, a side of rough equivalence to tonight's visitors, having earlier seen off Sevilla on a famous Champions League night.

No side has scored more than once at the King Power during this run and the last to find the net here in the league was Hull more than two months ago, so whatever the rights and wrongs of Claudio Ranieri's dismissal, Craig Shakespeare has to be applauded for restoring this ground to a fortress befitting of defending champions.  

It's to his credit that their defence will end on a high note when ultimate disaster was very much on the table and while defence will be an issue here, with Robert Huth and Wes Morgan among a host of absentees, it's easy to understand why Spurs are drifting towards even-money.

Without doubt, there's temptation to back the away side should they get to the double-your-money stage given that Shakespeare has had to draft in some youth players but they too have some issues in defence, while the driving force of Mousa Dembele is also likely to be absent from the starting line-up.

Rather than take a firm view on whether to side with a brilliant home record or the straightforwardly superior team, then, I'm inclined to take prices in the region of 7/4 about a minimum of four goals in what should still be an entertaining game, despite the absence of real significance.

Spurs haven't exactly been free-scorers on the road of late, but that could change following their defeat to West Ham which allowed Chelsea to begin their title celebrations earlier than had been forecast.

Remember, they signed off last season with a 5-1 defeat at Newcastle and while this side has come a long way since, like Leicester they've little to lose here and any weaknesses appear to be in defence.

While a draw for the hosts would be a good result, they are hardly set-up to play for one and with further absentees across midfield, I expect they'll allow Spurs to come onto them and hope to spring into action on the break, something we've seen them do to devastating effect over the last 18 months.

If Spurs do dominate possession, as expected it's hard to see how a depleted Leicester defence prevents them from scoring twice let alone once, so all the options involving above 2.5 goals and both teams to score are worth exploring, with over 3.5 preferred.

One final note: this might not be a last-day-of-the-season game, but it carries a similar profile and that furthers the likelihood that goals are in store. Last season, four of the 10 contained over 3.5, as did four of the 10 in 2015.

Among them are a 5-1 win for Leicester at home and a 5-1 defeat for Spurs away, and two confident sides with at least something to play for appear to me to be more likely to throw everything at each other than go through the motions.

And remember, Harry Kane is still fighting for the Golden Boot, so the classiest striker on the pitch - and arguably in the division - will be sniffing around everything in a bid to close the gap on Romelu Lukaku.

One way or another, there should be goals.

Prediction: Leicester 2-3 Tottenham

Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur: Team news

Leicester are without a host of senior players for the Premier League visit of Tottenham on Thursday.

Wes Morgan (hamstring), Robert Huth (foot), Nampalys Mendy (ankle), Danny Drinkwater (thigh) and Andy King are all sidelined for the Foxes.

It means Elliott Moore and Josh Knight could be included in the squad with the youth team players set to join first-team training ahead of the game at the King Power Stadium. 

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is facing a shortage of full-backs.

Danny Rose will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his knee while Kyle Walker has a minor ankle problem and Kieran Trippier is recovering from concussion.

Erik Lamela remains unavailable with a hip injury and Mousa Dembele is also likely to be rested as he is struggling with pain in his foot.

Teams

Leicester City (from): Schmeichel, Hamer, Zieler, Simpson, Fuchs, Chilwell, Wasilewski, Moore, Knight, Benalouane, Ndidi, Amartey, Gray, Albrighton, Mahrez, Musa, Vardy, Ulloa, Slimani, Okazaki. 

Tottenham Hotspur (from): Lloris, Vorm, Lopez, Davies, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Dier, Wimmer, Wanyama, Dembele, Eriksen, Alli, Sissoko, Onomah, Nkoudou, Edwards, Son, Janssen, Kane. 

Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur: Manager quotes

Craig Shakespeare (Leicester City)

On injury problems: "Unfortunately we still have a few injuries. Wes won't be okay, Robert will be out, Danny Drinkwater and Papy Mendy are out and now Andy King joins the long list.

"We won't be doing a lot of training in the next few days. We'll make sure we do enough to be competitive in the games but the injuries have caught up with us. There's two games left and others will get their opportunities.

"The players can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I've said before about their attitude and professionalism and I expect us to have a real good go to finish as high as we can." 

On Riyad Mahrez: "There's nothing wrong with ambition, whether it be from a player, manager or a coach. Him saying he wants to play Champions League - I said we wanted to experience it again - I don't see any problem with that.

On his future: "We have two games left now and it will come to a conclusion. I think the club realise in terms of forward planning it's important everyone knows. We won't have to wait long." 

Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham Hotspur)

On his future: "No, no buy-out clause in my contract. I will stay here next season.

"There are many rumours but I am committed to the club and have no reason to leave the club. I will stay here, don't worry. On July 3, for pre-season, I will be here, don't worry." 

On Danny Rose's knee surgery: "I sent him a text yesterday (Tuesday) after the surgery and we exchanged some texts.

"Now it is a moment to give time to recover after yesterday and I will be here on Friday to check how he is. He will have all our support." 

On this season's title race: "In October, November we drop a lot of points in the Premier League and then it was difficult to catch Chelsea.

"We need to be more competitive for the whole season. To compete with clubs like we are talking about it is too difficult to drop in some periods to catch your opponent.

"Chelsea was in a different picture. They didn't play Europa League and Champions League, no European competition, and they were capable to be consistent in the Premier League. That is why they won in the end." 

On Mousa Dembele: "After Sunday he needs to see the specialist. It's okay but maybe he is not at his best to play 90 minutes.

"It is the same foot as before and we want to say we appreciate his effort a lot because it is very painful for him but he has done his best to help the team in the last few weeks, first to reach the FA Cup final and then be second in the table." 

Asked if Spurs would steer clear of players being targeted by other top teams in the Premier League, Pochettino said: "Of course. You know better than me it is so difficult.

"We talk about 'if Tottenham are in the Champions League, it will be more attractive.' But then it's all about if you pay or not when we talk about top players. 

"We have unbelievable facilities but if some club is paying double the salary, then how can you convince them? We cannot lie to you. That is the reality. 

"You need younger players, like Dele Alli, who preferred to come here than another club. We took a big risk on Dele Alli and now he is a massive player, one of the most important in England. But who took the risk? Us." 

Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur: Opta facts

After one home defeat in their first seven home Premier League games against Spurs (W5 D1), Leicester are winless in the last three (D1 L2).

Of the five meetings between the sides in all competitions since the start of last season, Spurs have lost only once (W1 D3).

Only once in 10 previous home games against Tottenham in the Premier League have the Foxes failed to score (1-0 defeat in April 2000).

Tottenham have won only one of their previous 24 away Premier League games against a reigning champion, with Tim Sherwood’s Spurs beating Manchester United in January 2014 (D3 L20).

Craig Shakespeare has won all five of his home Premier League games as manager. Leicester haven’t won six top-flight home games in a row since March 1966.

Marc Albrighton has been involved in seven goals in 10 Premier League games under Shakespeare (2 goals, 5 assists), compared to one goal in 21 appearances under Claudio Ranieri this season (0 goals, 1 assist).

Christian Eriksen (13) is one assist away from equalling Darren Anderton’s record of 14 (1994-95) for a Spurs player in a single Premier League season.

Tottenham have won 80 points this season from 36 games and will finish in 2nd place. This points tally is already higher than the second places side in each of the last two seasons: Arsenal – 71 points in 2015-16 and Manchester City 79 points in 2014-15.

In fact, if Spurs (80 points) win this match then they would surpass the points tally achieved by Leicester City when they won the Premier League last season (81 points).

Since the start of September, Harry Kane has scored 22 goals in 25 Premier League appearances for Tottenham Hotspur.

Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur: Sky Bet odds  

Tottenham are marginally odds-on at 5/6 with Sky Bet, who make Leicester 3/1 outsiders while pricing the draw at 14/5. Harry Kane is the 7/2 favourite in the first goalscorer betting and is the same price to be the Premier League’s top goalscorer, while Jamie Vardy is 11/2 to break the deadlock. Mauricio Pochettino’s men have been priced at 9/1 to go one better than their runners-up finish next season, while the Foxes are 100/1 to win the Premier League title again.

Click here for Leicester v Tottenham odds!