Chris Sutton has predicted that Tottenham will not have things their own way at the King Power Stadium but backed Antonio Conte’s men to edge out the home side.
Spurs go into the clash against Leicester City on Saturday with some momentum after winning their last three games against Fulham, Preston North End and Manchester City.
The Lilywhites will particularly take confidence from the win over the reigning Premier League champions as they produced one of their best performances of the season last Sunday, restricting Pep Guardiola’s men to few chances while looking extremely threatening on the counter.
Antonio Conte is expected to be back on the touchline to marshal his troops on Saturday (Daily Mail) after missing the City game due to an emergency operation to remove his gallbladder last week.
It remains to be seen whether Conte will rotate his side heavily, with a trip to San Siro coming up three days later for Spurs but Sutton believes that the North London side will have enough to come away with a narrow win tomorrow.
The pundit told BBC Sport: “I was at King Power Stadium to see Tottenham nick the points in absolutely stunning style in this fixture last season, when Steven Bergwijn scored twice in injury time to give them a 3-2 win. It could be just as close this time around too.
“Leicester ended their long wait for a victory when they beat Aston Villa last week but they are not out of trouble yet. I think Southampton and Bournemouth are done, and will both go down, but that still leaves one relegation place to be filled.
“At the other end of the table, Tottenham are finally showing signs of having some consistency with three straight wins in all competitions, and they will be hoping their manager Antonio Conte is back in the dugout after his operation.
“Spurs will miss suspended defender Cristian Romero, who was sent off against Manchester City, and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is injured – I might be wrong but I don’t think that losing Lloris is a disaster for them, and they should carry on their good run.”
Prediction: 1-2.
Spurs Web Opinion
This game is absolutely huge as it is vital that we continue to build momentum on the back of our recent results. A defeat tomorrow could undo the good work we have done over the last couple of weeks and will deflate the squad’s confidence ahead of an all-important trip to Milan.
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