Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri is expected to make changes for Wednesday’s FA Cup third-round replay at home to Tottenham.
New signing Demarai Gray is in line for a home debut, Matty James could make his return from injury, while fringe players Ritchie de Laet, Andy King and Leonardo Ulloa are all in the frame.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is also considering rotating his squad.
Editor’s Note: You may be getting the feeling of Déjà vu as Leicester and Tottenham face off for the 3rd time in two weeks. The Foxes have had the better of the first two encounters with a Win in the League and a Draw, while Tottenham are yet to beat Claudio Ranieri’s men in any of their 3 encounters so far.
Both teams will look to make changes Tonight as it seems qualification for The Champions League is still the main focus for both clubs, obviously neither team wants to crash out of the F.A. Cup at the third round but it will also be a test of strength in depth for both squads as they look to progress to the 4th Round and a trip to Colchester next Saturday Lunchtime.
Last Weekend Leicester were held by a resugent Aston Villa and they now find themselves 2nd in the League. But when you read that back to yourself that is no great disaster, they were top for 24 hours but Arsenal failed to fully capitalise the next day at Stoke and these two clubs now find themselves joint on points. The main cause for celebration would have been a fully fit Jamie Vardy who played a part in Leicester’s goal, will Ranieri be willing to unleash him on Tottenham this evening.
As for Spurs last time out they beat Sunderland quite comfortably in the end after registering a 4-1 win at White Hart Lane, although they didn’t have a great first half and a big thanks must go to Sam Allardyce’s woeful substitutions. That said it was a day were the performance was needed more than result especially after being beating by Tonight’s opponents in the League a week ago.
Last Wednesday night Robert Huth’s goal was the difference but for the woodwork it could have been a different story as Harry Kane’s effort was agonisingly tipped onto the bar by Kasper Schmeichel. Tottenham will feel they had the better of the game in terms of chances and possession but they didn’t do the crucial thing of putting the ball in the net.
As always the question will be whether Harry Kane is started or afforded a rest. Personally I will start him from the bench tonight as I would expect the Spurs side to be heavily rotated and South Korean Son Heung-Min will start upfront. The direction of the game will depend on whether Mauricio Pochettino has to call Kane into action.
In terms of the result I think Leicester seem to be our bogie team as of late and I can see them getting the better of us again tonight. The last side either side want is extra time and penalties in terms of squad fitness. So if Spurs are to lose I hope they lose in 90 minutes. A home win for me
