Leicester City face a stern battle in the remaining weeks of the season to seal their spot in the Champions League.
Photo Copyright - Steve Haag Sports
The Foxes travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday to face Jose Mourinho's side and welcome Manchester United to the King Power Stadium on the final day of the season.
With Manchester City’s Champions League ban overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, fifth-place won’t be enough to qualify for Europe's premier competition. Brendan Rodgers' men now face a dogfight with Manchester United, Chelsea and Wolves for the final two Champions League places.
As for Spurs, their only realistic target is qualifying for the Europa League – the last trophy Mourinho won (with Manchester United in the 2016–17 season).
*Please note that this article was written prior to the gameweek 36 fixtures for print purposes.
Tottenham vs Leicester City | Sunday 19 July | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | 17:00
To Win
Tottenham 27/20
Draw 24/10
Leicester City 2/1
Tottenham
Just as I predicted in last week’s featured game preview, Tottenham claimed the north London bragging rights with a well-earned 2-1 home victory over Arsenal to leapfrog their bitter rivals in the table. That victory will boost Spurs’ confidence as they aim to finish as high as possible and try to avoid missing out on European action for the first time since 2009-10.
Despite their inconsistent Premier League form, the Lilywhites head into the match as favourites, with Mourinho's side unbeaten in their last four matches at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, drawing with Manchester United and defeating West Ham and Everton, before beating Arsenal.
Mourinho wouldn’t be thrilled with doing their rivals any favours – especially his former clubs Chelsea and United – but the Portuguese boss knows his team need points and he’ll be desperate to end the season on a high and gain access to the Europa League.
After watching relegation-stricken Bournemouth put four past Leicester last weekend, Spurs will fancy themselves against the Foxes. Rodgers' men are winless in their last seven league games on the road, losing four times, and they’ve lost each of their last two trips to the north Londoners. This is Tottenham’s last home game of the season and they won’t want to disappoint their fans.
Harry Kane has netted 13 goals for Spurs against the Foxes, including a hat-trick in a thrilling 4-3 win at White Hart Lane in March 2015 and he scored four in an emphatic 6-1 victory at the King Power Stadium in May 2017. Kane hasn’t been in the best of form since returning from his long injury layoff, but if Dominic Solanke can run amok against Leicester, the England captain could have a field day.
Leicester City
Leicester City aren’t the only top-four contender with a tough fixture as Chelsea face Liverpool on Wednesday 22 July. The Foxes will be hopeful that the newly-crowned title winners will beat Frank Lampard's side, but the East Midlands outfit will still have to overcome the Spurs hurdle.
Rodgers' men had looked a shoo-in for Champions League football, but have won just one of their seven league games since the restart – at the time of writing – which has seen their healthy advantage in the hunt for a top-four finish blown away, with the chasing pack closing the gap.
Leicester are currently fifth in the Premier League standings, but they aren’t out of it yet. Chelsea have been stuttering of late and the Foxes have shown what they’re capable of when at their best, plus they have the league's top scorer Jamie Vardy at their disposal.
However, with star centre-back Caglar Soyuncu suspended for the rest of the season following his sending off in the stunning 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth, and Ben Chilwell, James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira all major injury doubts, it certainly doesn’t bode well for Leicester’s top four chances.
Rodgers knows all about falling at the final hurdle, having been in charge when Liverpool let their title hopes slip away in the 2013-14 campaign. The Northern Irish boss will be hoping history doesn't repeat itself, but his players will have to sharpen up their game.
Verdict: Tottenham 27/20
As a die-hard Chelsea fan, I’ll definitely be hoping Leicester lose, but regardless of what I want to happen, a Tottenham victory looks the likeliest outcome. The Foxes have struggled on the road and with their injury problems and Soyuncu suspended, Kane and co should inflict further damage on Leicester's faltering top-four hopes.
Written by Chad Nagel for Hollywoodbets
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