Jamie Vardy a doubt for Tottenham ties after minor surgery

Leicester City is set to play Tottenham Hotspur twice in one week, but they may be without their star striker for at least one of those matches. BBC Sport is reporting that Leicester striker Jamie Vardy will probably miss the FA Cup match at White Hart Lane on January 10 after undergoing minor groin surgery, ruling him out for "one to two weeks."

Not having to the league scoring leader twice is good news for Tottenham, but it might not have really mattered. There was always a question as to whether or not Leicester City would rotate for these matches, and if so by how much. The timing of this surgery might give an indication about how Claudio Ranieri will approach them. Leicester is a very good team this season, but they're not especially deep. If Ranieri needs to choose whether to emphasize the FA Cup or the league, this suggests that he'd rather Vardy try and be back in time for the second White Hart Lane match on January 13.

Leicester is likely not going have as good a chance to win the Premier League for a long, long time, so it probably makes sense for Vardy to have his surgery now, start Leonardo Ulloa in the Cup, and hope he's ready to go when they return to White Hart Lane. That said, "1-2 weeks" is a nebulous thing. It seems likely that he'll miss the Cup match, but two weeks recovery means a return by January 17. So in the absence of further info, there's a chance he could miss both matches.

As for Spurs, there's no real indication yet on what Pochettino will do. Will he rotate beyond the fullbacks and maybe an attacking midfielder? I have no idea, and neither do you.