Opposition Preview: Leicester City | OneFootball

On Saturday afternoon, Spurs. return to Premier League action, when they welcome Leicester City to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The game kicks off at 14:00 GMT, fewer than 72 hours before the game kicked off against Hoffenheim on Thursday evening.

What can we expect from Leicester heading into the game?

Well, The Foxes come into this game in an awful moment. They have lost their last seven games in the Premier League, which is even worse than Southampton. In late November, they made the decision to sack Steve Cooper, and replaced him with Ruud Van Nistelrooy - whom played with Heung-Min Son at Hamburg.

However, it has not changed much - and if anything has made things worse. So far, van Nistelrooy has won as many games as a manager against Leicester this season, than he has for them. During his interim spell in charge of Manchester United, he beat the newly promoted side in both the league and Carabao Cup. So far at Leicester, he has only beaten West Ham United, and QPR in the FA Cup.

In terms of dangermen, there needs to be no introducing to Jamie Vardy, whom has scored eight Premier League goals against Spurs, including in the reverse fixture on opening weekend back in August. On the left hand side, Stephy Mavididi could be a threat with his pace and runs in behind the Spurs back line.

During that game on opening weekend, Abdul Fatawu on the right hand side caused a lot of problems, and assisted Vardy's goal. He will not be playing here, however, after rupturing his ACL back in November.

Elsewhere, they have some very familiar midfielders, with Tottenham Hotspur academy graduates Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp both currently at Leicester. Meanwhile, Wilfred Ndidi is one of a few players remaining from the last time they were in the Premier League.

Also in midfield, there is Facundo Buonanotte, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion. The youngster plays as a number ten, and was linked with a move to Spurs earlier in the season. 20-year old Moroccan Bilal El Khannouss has also impressed in that role.

Their defence has been a big issue all season. Only Southampton (50) have conceded more than their 48 goals this season. In their 2-0 defeat at home to Fulham last time, their entire back four were starting in the 22/23 season, where they got relegated.

So, pretty poor stuff. "Dr Tottenham" could come to play here, especially after 90 minutes in Germany on Thursday evening, where the likes of Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray collapsed at the full-time whistle. That said, Spurs did beat Southampton 5-0, so let's see.