Tottenham Hotspur vs. Leicester City: Match Preview, Projected Lineups & Predictions

Round 2. After Harry Kane (and a fortunate penalty call) rescued Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup on Sunday versus Leicester City, the teams are right back at it in league play Wednesday. The draw against Leicester leaves a replay to be played next Wednesday, January 20th, as Spurs will look to travel to the East Midlands with three points in tow. The key for Spurs will have to come in seeing whether their rotated squad in the FA Cup boosts their performance in the league, as the likes of Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli, Erik Lamela and Harry Kane all started on the bench.

Leicester has some weapons up its sleeve as well, as Shinji Okazaki looks to start after his sterling play off the bench on Sunday and Riyad Mahrez starts again after rest. With Leicester in 2nd place in the table, just four points ahead of Spurs, the imperative will be on for Leicester to not lose in this away matchup. This may lead Leicester City Manager Claudio Ranieri to adopt a bit more defensive tactic than Leicester showed in the FA Cup.

Will Spurs be able to take full points and launch themselves back into the title race in this crucial matchup? We shall see.

How to Watch

Date/time: Wednesday, January 13, 2016, 8:00 p.m. (UK), 3:00 p.m. ET (USA)
Venue: White Hart Lane, London, UK
Official: Lee Mason
TV: Not Televised (USA), Not Televised (UK), Sportsnet World (Canada), Fox Sports 2 (Australia), other listings at livesoccertv.com
Streaming: NBCS Live Extra (USA)
Radio: Audio streamed at tottenhamhotspur.com, also BBC Radio London and TalkSport

Projected Lineup

Pretty much healthy! With only Clinton N'Jie, Ryan Mason, and Alex Pritchard on the injury list, Mauricio Pochettino has a nearly full team to choose from. The biggest questions come in whether Mousa Dembele comes straight back into the lineup from injury and whether Danny Rose or Ben Davies wins the perennial left back duel. Our guess is that Mousa and Davies start from the bench, but it's anyone's guess.

Prediction League

Menno and Skipjack were the only writers to predict Tottenham's draw against Everton. The rules remain the same in the Prediction League -- one point for a correct prediction and a bonus point for getting the score correct. Here are the current standings:

Dustin Menno: I wasn’t nervous about this match until I saw Michael Caley’s top four numbers. This match is MASSIVE. I still have faith in Dier and Janby Alderweirtonghen to contain Vardy and Mahrez, and think Spurs will scrape it 2-1.

Michael Caley: TBD

brett rainbow: TBD

Ben Daniels: We draw every match, and we especially draw every match with Leicester. The smart money says draw but I'm dumb. 2-1 Spurs

55thVin: I don't know why we can't take three, it's like the more times we play Leicester, the less lucky they'll be. 3-1 Spurs

Bryan Ashlock: TBD

Luke Zimmerman: Spurs 1- Leicester 0. No facts, emotions only. Let’s do this. Please. Oh god. Please.

Earl of Shoop: In part three of this epic four-part series, our heroes at long last manage to break the deadlock that unfortunately characterized parts one and two. Despite being unable to fully contain the Lester Jeicesters™ - yet again - Spurs dominate possession in a nervy (surprise!) win. Spurs 2-1.

Matt Pachniuk: Spurs draw 2-2.  Leicester is annoying. 2-2 Draw

Jake Meador: Yup. Caley managed to make me totally freak out about this. Spurs 3-1 Lester.

GN Punk: I think everyone has said it best: This match is stupidly important. It's at home and we rotated for the cup to be ready for this. Let's thrash them. 3-1 Spurs

Brian Mechanick: For some reason I'm hoping the combination of rotation and a home game tips this game in Spurs' favor. But frankly, I'm terrified. 2-1 Spurs

Ed F.: 4-1 Spurs.