TIME FOR CHANGE UP FRONT MARTIN SAMUEL:
Spurs boss wants more goal threat
TotteNhaM will welcome back harry Kane today — and the timing couldn’t be better. Manager Mauricio Pochettino cannot remember a more testing spell of his career. Spurs are without a win in five and face the Champions League visit of Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday before a trip to arsenal on Sunday.
Kane has missed more than a month with an ankle ligament injury but with a return to training scheduled today, he could even make the bench at Wembley in midweek.
his absence has been felt. Spurs remain unbeaten but a run of draws, such as this with Leicester City, is damaging to a team with title aspirations.
Stand- in striker Vincent Janssen scored with a penalty and his hold-up play remains impressive, but he offers nothing like the same threat of the england forward.
tottenham’s goals per game average jumps from 1.2 to 1.6 when the 23-yearold plays. they also win more games than they draw. Perhaps that is why Kane’s manager is not pushing the panic button just yet.
‘It is hard because the players come, maybe not injured, but with many problems and maybe play two games with small problems,’ Pochettino said. ‘Maybe we don’t win but we don’t lose and that is important.’
Spurs have stumbled since dismantling Manchester City earlier this month. having played out a stalemate in Leverkusen a fortnight ago, the return at Wembley will not be taken lightly.
Pochettino lamented the lack of a ‘ determination to score’ from his attacking players. Christian eriksen is without a goal in seven games and Son heungMin’s goals have dried up.
Dele alli admits Spurs aren’t living up to their potential. ‘We definitely feel it was a missed opportunity,’ he said. ‘ the last three games — West Brom, Bournemouth and this — we feel we should have got nine points from. But it’s important that we don’t get too down on ourselves and keep fighting. Drawing isn’t enough for us with the team we’ve got.’
Leicester manager Claudio ranieri watched his team produce a performance more like those that shocked the Premier League last season and he conceded that with european commitments, Leicester might have taken their eyes off the ball domestically. they face Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday.
‘Now we get better — we get back,’ ranieri said. ‘Now our concentration must be the same: Premier League, Champions League, Premier League, Champions League. that’s it.’
SUPERSTAT: Spurs have avoided defeat in their first 10 league games for the first time since 1990-91.
TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Lloris 6; Walker 6, Dier 6.5, Vertonghen 7, Rose 7.5; Dembele 6, Wanyama 6 (Winks 88min); Eriksen 5, Alli 6.5 (Nkoudou 83), Son 5; Janssen 6.
Subs not used: Vorm, Carter-Vickers, Davies, Trippier, Onomah. Booked: Rose, Son, Wanyama. Scorer: Janssen pen 44.
LEICESTER (4-4-2): Schmeichel 6; Simpson 6, Morgan 6.5, Huth 6, Fuchs 6; Mahrez 5 (Albrighton 72, 5), King 6, Drinkwater 6.5, Musa 6.5 (Schlupp 68, 6); Okazaki 7 (Ulloa 78), Vardy 6.5.
Subs not used: Zieler, Hernandez, Amartey, Gray. Booked: Mahrez, Musa, Vardy, Simpson. Scorer: Musa 48.
Man of the match: Danny Rose. Referee: Bobby Madley 5.