Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur Predictions

• Leicester have lost manager Enzo Maresca and key man Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall since the end of last season.
• Tottenham won all their away games against promoted sides last season.
• Both teams have scored in the last five meetings.

Big ask for promoted Foxes

Leicester secured promotion at the first time of asking as they claimed the Championship title last season – but staying in the Premier League looks a far bigger challenge.

The Foxes face a tough opener against top four hopefuls Tottenham, and a probable points deduction is also a concern.

Leicester lost boss Enzo Maresca and key midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea over the summer. Replacement manager Steve Cooper has a good track record after keeping Nottingham Forest up but they haven’t managed to fill the void created by Dewsbury-Hall’s exit and their squad looks weaker than the team that won promotion last term.

Spurs limited over the finish line last season and five defeats in their last seven games ensured they will be playing in the Europa League this term rather than in Europe’s top competition.

However, they have recruited well during the transfer window so far, with Dominic Solanke’s arrival giving them extra strength in attack and the replacement for Harry Kane they ultimately missed last year, and a return to the top four should be the target.

Back Spurs to win and concede

Tottenham are the favourites to win and rightly so. They may have struggled towards the end of last season but fatigue perhaps played a part there as a relatively small squad in terms of depth was pushed to the limit, and they should be able to get up and running against Leicester.

It may take the Foxes a bit of time to settle under their new boss and their standards did slip a little at the King Power Stadium in the closing stages of last season, losing three of their final seven games, so Spurs can come away with the spoils.

A consolation effort for Leicester is predicted, however, as Leicester only failed to score in one of their final 16 home games and they drew that blank after they had been crowned champions. Meanwhile, Tottenham managed just one clean sheet in their last 11 games and generally these teams tend to serve up entertaining games – with both teams scoring in each of the last five meetings.

Kulusevski the scorer pick

Tottenham won all of their away games against promoted teams last term and they scored nine goals in total across those three games. They’ll be looking to make an early statement here after their dip at the end of last term and a 3-1 away win looks a reasonable correct score pick.

Solanke and Son Heung-min will probably be Spurs’ main goal threats over the course of the campaign but Dejan Kulusevski stands out as a possible scorer ahead of this opener. The Swede hit eight goals last term and has enjoyed a productive pre-season with three assists and three goals – and those three goals have come in the last three warm-up games.

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