Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
The King Power StadiumAttendance31,351.
Friday 19 May 2017 14:58, UK
Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare is facing an injury crisis as he prepares for the visit of runners-up Tottenham on Thursday, live on Sky Sports.
Shakespeare revealed he has just 16 fit senior players for the King Power clash and Sunday's Premier League finale against Bournemouth with Wes Morgan, Danny Drinkwater and Andy King among the absentees.
"We won't be doing a lot of training in the next few days," the Foxes boss told reporters. "We'll make sure we
do enough to be competitive in the games but the injuries have caught up with us. There's two games left and others will get their opportunities.
"The players can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I've said before about their attitude and professionalism and I expect us to have a real good go to finish as high as we can."
Tottenham's hopes of catching Chelsea are over but Mauricio Pochettino's team have 80 points with two games left - already 10 more than their finishing total last season and only one short of the 81 that won Leicester the league.
Morgan (hamstring), Drinkwater (thigh) and King (hamstring) are joined in the treatment room by Robert Huth (foot) and Nampalys Mendy (ankle), meaning young defenders Josh Knight and Elliott Moore are set to be drafted in on Thursday.
Spurs have injury worries of their own, Pochettino facing a shortage of full-backs after the news that Danny Rose underwent knee surgery on Tuesday and will miss the rest of the campaign.
Kieran Trippier sustained concussion against Manchester United last weekend and is unavailable, while Kyle Walker has a minor ankle injury and will also miss out.
Erik Lamela remains unavailable with a hip injury and Mousa Dembele is also likely to be rested as he is struggling with pain in his foot.
After one home defeat in their first seven home Premier League games against Spurs (W5 D1), Leicester are winless in the last three (D1 L2).
Of the five meetings between the sides in all competitions since the start of last season, Spurs have lost only once (W1 D3).
Only once in 10 previous home games against Tottenham in the Premier League have the Foxes failed to score (1-0 defeat in April 2000).
Tottenham have won only one of their previous 24 away Premier League games against a reigning champion, with Tim Sherwood's Spurs beating Manchester United in January 2014 (D3 L20).
Craig Shakespeare has won all five of his home Premier League games as manager. Leicester haven't won six top-flight home games in a row since March 1966.
Marc Albrighton has been involved in seven goals in 10 Premier League games under Shakespeare (2 goals, 5 assists), compared to one goal in 21 appearances under Claudio Ranieri this season (0 goals, 1 assist).
Christian Eriksen (13) is one assist away from equalling Darren Anderton's record of 14 (1994-95) for a Spurs player in a single Premier League season.
Tottenham have won 80 points this season from 36 games and will finish in 2nd place. This points tally is already higher than the second-placed side in each of the last two seasons: Arsenal - 71 points in 2015-16 and Manchester City 79 points in 2014-15.
In fact, if Spurs (80 points) win this match then they would surpass the points tally achieved by Leicester City when they won the Premier League last season (81 points).
Since the start of September, Harry Kane has scored 22 goals in 25 Premier League appearances for Tottenham Hotspur.
I think this will be a good game. Leicester have done alright, and I really think Craig Shakespeare should get the job.
The players like him, and if another manager comes in, I really don't see how he's going to stay there, as the new manager will see him as a threat.
They nearly got a result at City, and I think there will be plenty of goals in this game. Leicester have a go, and Spurs will go for it too. They looked impressive again against Man Utd, and these are two sides with a lot of confidence.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-3 (22/1 with Sky Bet)
Tottenham are marginally odds-on at 5/6 with Sky Bet, who make Leicester 3/1 outsiders while pricing the draw at 14/5. Harry Kane is the 7/2 favourite in the first goalscorer betting and is the same price to be the Premier League's top goalscorer, while Jamie Vardy is 11/2 to break the deadlock. Mauricio Pochettino's men have been priced at 9/1 to go one better than their runners-up finish next season, while the Foxes are 100/1 to win the Premier League title again.