Leicester pushing for top half finish

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With two games remaining in the Premier League this season, Leicester City have the opportunity to finish in the top half of the table.

This season was never going to see a repeat of the title winning campaign of 2015/16 but a battle with relegation was also unexpected.  Although the club never actually dropped into the relegation zone, they did fall as far as 17th in the table and this prompted a change of manager.

Many football fans were shocked Claudio Ranieri, the man who guided Leicester to the Premier League title last season, was shown the door but it has proved to be the right move.  Leicester have steadily climbed the table since and could end the season inside the top ten under Craig Shakespeare.

Tottenham Hotpsur have enjoyed another good season under Mauricio Pochettino but will have to settle for second place in the Premier League.  Chelsea cannot be caught and the teams below them are too far adrift, meaning a guaranteed spot in the Champions League group stages next season.

Trends show Leicester are unbeaten in their last eight games at home in all competitions.  During that run of games, the Foxes have won seven and drawn one, including some good victories over Liverpool in the Premier League and Sevilla in the Champions League.

All seven of those wins have come by a margin of 2 goals or more and the King Power Stadium has become a difficult place to travel for opposition teams, just as it was during last season.  Shakespeare will be pleased this match is at home, as Leicester have won only two of their previous eight games in all competitions, seven of which were away from home.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Manchester United 2-1 in their final match at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon but the damage was already done in the 1-0 defeat at West Ham United the week before.

Trends show Tottenham Hotspur are undefeated in nineteen of their previous twenty-one games in the Premier League but even that was not good enough to win the Premier League title.  They won seventeen of those games, drawing only two but such was the form of Chelsea, there was nothing Tottenham Hotpsur could do to stay with the recently crowned Premier League champions.

Away from home is where the problems have been for Pochettino and Tottenham have won three of their previous seven away league games, dropping points at Manchester City, Sunderland, Liverpool and West Ham.

Leicester will be hoping their central defensive partnership of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan are fit for this game.  There is also a doubt over Andy King plus Molla Wague, Nampalys Mendy and Daniel Drinkwater all miss out.

Danny Rose will undergo knee surgery so the left-back is unavailable, meaning Ben Davies should start at the back for Tottenham.  With second place in the table secure, Pochettino may bring back the likes of Kyle Walker and Mousa Dembele.

Leicester have scored at least 2 goals in their last five home Premier League games and Tottenham have scored 2 goals or more in nine of their last eleven league matches.  This game should see goals and with Leicester’s strong home record and Tottenham’s problems on the road, a home win with both team scoring is a good bet.