Tottenham wishes to get back to winning ways on their return to home after losing two games in a week as they face Leeds United regathered form before the World Cup break.
Despite fightback in the second half, Spurs could not recover their deficit from the first half to lose 2-1 against Liverpool while Leeds played a 4-3 thriller against Bournemouth in the Premier League last weekend. However, both sides have been eliminated from this season’s EFL Cup third round in midweek.
TOT vs LUFC Match Details
Date: Saturday, 12 November 2022
Time: 16:00 (BST) / 20:30 (IST)
Venue: Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, Tottenham
TOT vs LUFC Match Preview
Antonio Conte’s side took the EFL clash against Nottingham Forest as a marker to get back some stability yet the 2-0 loss at the City Ground was an unexpected one. Forest have earlier caught big fish in their net at home beating West Ham and Liverpool in the Premier League despite their struggles at the bottom but this could not serve as an excuse for Tottenham to not turn up in attack again. Injuries to Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison have troubled Spurs lately with Heung Min-Son also missing due to surgery required on his eye injury. With the South Korean not included in the game and the other two only joining the action as a substitute, Conte’s men failed to unlock the home side’s stubborn defense and got exposed to their counter-attacks for the goals. Talking about the back three, Christian Romero’s absence due to injury has also been significant for Spurs to lose their solidity with his replacements not good enough. Poor defending also let them down along with their lackluster attack in the 2-1 loss to Liverpool last weekend even though they picked up in the second half also because the Reds took a more conservative approach to protect their lead. In the hope of overturning those defeats, Tottenham faces Leeds this weekend who have seen a turn of fortunes in recent weeks. Conte might feel this is not the right time to face the club from west Yorkshire considering their upturn in form although the Italian will have most of his attackers in place by the time of the match. Spurs sit in the final Champions League berth in the league table three points clear of Manchester United in fifth, one place and a point beneath Newcastle United so a win in the final weekend before the World Cup will be necessary to make their place in the top four more firmed as the Toons play a more difficult game against Chelsea on the same day.
Jesse Marsch said after the unpredicted victory over Liverpool at Anfield that his team look very much the same when they went without a win in eight games prior but with another win last weekend, a seven-goal thriller against Bournemouth at the Elland Road, the American will acknowledge his team’s effort a bit more. Rodrigo gave Leeds the lead from the spot three minutes into the game but the Cherries recovered from the early blow to score three goals before the break. 3-1 down, the home side did not lose hope and substitute Sam Greenwood scored on the hour mark to half the deficit before Liam Cooper and then Crysencio Summerville scored a late winner for the second game running. The 1-0 loss to the Wolves in the EFL Cup midweek may have caused hiccups again but there were a lot of changes to the side with four club debuts handed, three being youngsters among whom Darko Gyabi is from the academy. The goal from Adama Traore for Wolves also came in the 85th minute. Nevertheless, Marsch’s side will like to clear away this disappointment by taking on Tottenham Hotspurs in the Premier League at their home in a massive game before the World Cup break. Leeds will certainly fancy their two-game winning run in to pick up a positive result and Spurs in the process although they have lost in the last five trips to London to face them. It is also last May that Leeds managed to win more consecutive games in the Premier League. Jesse Marsch will now want all the pieces of the puzzle to come together this weekend to lift them to the top half of the table. Spurs are also at the risk of going four-game winless at home, a vulnerability Leeds could capitalize on.
Recent Form (all competitions)
TOT: LLWWD
LUFC: LWWLL
Recent Form (league)
TOT: LWLLW
LUFC: WWLLL
TOT vs LUFC Team News
Both Kulusevski and Richarlison will require late training sessions to make it to the starting eleven as confirmed by Antonio Conte with the duo returning to action this week from their respective injuries. However, Ryan Sessegnon will miss the clash after picking up a knock in the loss against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup midweek. Ivan Perisic could slot back in the left wing-back position instead with the forwards returning having partnered Harry Kane upfront in the last couple of games. Son will definitely miss out on the rest of the club action for his surgery which is a blow to Spurs but the one the 30-year-old had to take to arrive at the World Cup for South Korea with full fitness. Christian Romero is called up by Argentina for the FIFA World Cup despite suffering from a thigh injury for a while that will keep him out from the final club game before the tournament
Leeds United took a fresh injury blow with Joe Gelhardt adding himself to the list after sustaining a knock in midweek EFL Cup loss to Wolves. With Patrick Bamford also a doubt for the clash, Rodrigo will continue to lead the line having netted in his last three starts in the Premier League. Luis Sinisterra (foot) and Adam Forshaw (ankle) remain out till the middle of Dallas while Stuart Dallas is not in contention until the new year with a broken leg. Jesse Marsch will also field a more strengthened squad than in the cup tie after rotating heavily with club captain Liam Cooper set to make his 250th appearance for Leeds.
TOT vs LUFC Predicted Lineups
TOT: Hugo Lloris; Eric Dier, Clement Lenglet, Ben Davies; Emerson Royal, Hojbjerg, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ivan Perisic; Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane, Richarlison
LUFC: Illan Meslier; Rasmus Kristensen, Robin Koch, Liam Cooper, Pascal Struijk; Tyler Adams, Marc Roca; Jack Harrison, Brenden Aaronson, Crysencio Summerville; Rodrigo
TOT vs LUFC Dream11 Team prediction
GK: Lloris (6)
DEF: Royal (7), Cooper (7), Struijk (9), B Davies (7)
MID: Hojbjerg (9), Bentancur (8.5), T Adams (8), Perisic (7.5)
FW: Kane (9), Rodrigo (9)
Vice-captain: Rodrigo Moreno
Captain: Harry Kane
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