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Saturday at 7:30 am ET on NBCSN
Brendan Rodgers squandered a beautiful opportunity to take all three points from Old Trafford for the first time in two decades by starting a winger in Demarai Gray who has hardly played, and sticking with his “inside winger” role for James Maddison. Spurs made sure Crystal Palace remembered how tough it is the higher you climb in the table by drubbing them 4-0 and sending them straight to 12th.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs felt all the emotions in their Champions League match on Wednesday when they blew a 2-0 lead at Olympiacos in whimsical fashion. In an interview after the match Harry Kane spoke about how the team made the same mistakes on the night like they did in the early stages of Mauricio Pochettino’s management six years before. More likely, it wast just a tired Spurs squad playing a semi-rotated 11 and could possibly see this game on Saturday as a tougher challenge. Only time will tell!
Leicester City
I was very disappointed in Rodgers’ decision to change the lineup from a 3-1 destroying of Bournemouth, to what was essentially a Claude Puel move to bring in Gray and drop both Marc Albrighton and Harvey Barnes. The sad thing is I don’t think much will change on Saturday. Rodgers has backed his decision about Maddison’s position, but I don’t see how Gray will get back in after that performance.
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Jamie Vardy had very little service against United due to the fact they bloated the midfield, and the wing that was open the most had only Hamza Choudhury to move the needle on offense. While he did his best, Leicester immediately looked more dangerous with the introduction of Harvey. It’s uncertain which Tottenham we will see, but I know at some point Harry Kane will get free, and if he won’t score, Son Heung-min will do his best.
Prediction
If Rodgers does the right thing and puts out arguably his strongest line-up, we could do some real damage to this Spurs team at home. If it’s another stale opening 10 minutes where we go behind, we can overcome it but it won’t be easy. A 2-2 draw is my logical prediction, but my heart is thinking a 3-1 with another Vardy brace.