Tottenham v Leeds – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Tottenham host Leeds United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. Spurs saw their last match against Fulham postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak for the Cottagers and will want to get back to winning ways against an in-form Leeds side.

Tottenham Form

Mourinho had Spurs on a run of 11 matches unbeaten in the Premier League with many considering them title challengers. That spell came to an end with a late defeat at Liverpool and then a 2-0 home loss to Leicester.

Having led 1-0 only to draw 1-1 with Crystal Palace before those defeats, Spurs did the same in their last match at Wolves. Both times, Mourinho’s team sat back at 1-0 up and paid for their lack of attacking intent. In the Wolves match, they had only one shot in the entire second half. Spurs are on a run of one win in their last six matches in the league.

Tottenham Team News

Mourinho has a few concerns in attacking areas for this match. Both Gareth Bale and Giovani Lo Celso are out whilst Lucas Moura and Carlos Vinicius are major doubts. Arguably, none of those four would have started anyway but it reduces Tottenham’s options from the bench.

The coach will have to decide between Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko in midfield and is expected to revert to a back four after using a back three for the away game at Wolves.

Tottenham Motivation

Spurs have been playing exactly the same way in all recent matches. They sit deep, mostly attack on the break and once they go in front, they show little ambition to kill off opponents. Mourinho says in the media that his players were not instructed to settle for a 1-0 lead but clearly, the coach’s risk-averse methods have ingrained themselves in the squad.

They will play to win this match but definitely won’t open up against a Leeds side with so much attacking threat. However, Bielsa’s side leaves huge holes on the counter-attack – Spurs’ biggest strength.

Leeds Form

Marcelo Bielsa’s side were on a very poor run as they lost five out of eight matches from mid-October to mid-December. They then smashed Newcastle 5-2 at home after three late goals before getting thrashed 6-2 by Man Utd at Old Trafford. Those results meant six defeats across a ten-match spell and finally saw Biela receive some criticism.

The coach has since seen his side win 1-0 at home to Burnley and then destroy West Brom 5-0 away from home. Those results took Leeds up to 11th spot.

Leeds Team News

Leeds continue to have problems in central defence and they could be missing all of Liam Cooper, Robin Koch, and Diego Llorente in that area for this match. That means that Pascal Struijk and Luke Ayling will play in defence.

Mateusz Klich has a thigh problem in midfield and is a doubt so Jamie Shackleton or Pablo Hernandez could come in. The rest of the lineup is expected to be unchanged.

Leeds Motivation

Like Spurs, Leeds have only been playing one way. They press, they man mark and they throw five or six players forward for every attack. Once leading, they don’t sit back or protect the scoreline but keep attacking. This can lead to plenty of goals conceded (2nd worst defensive record in the league) but also plenty of goals when they are on top (4th highest scorers).

Key Stats

Spurs have lost 2 of their last 3 PL matches having gone 11 games unbeaten

Spurs have gone 4 PL matches without a clean sheet having kept 4 in 4 games before that

Spurs have seen under 2.5 goals in 7 of their last 8 PL matches

Leeds have the second worst defence in the PL (30 goals conceded)

Leeds have won 4 of their last 7 away PL matches

Prediction

This game is difficult to call. Both sides are likely to score even if Spurs set up quite defensively. Leeds have conceded loads of goals to the top sides this season who can manipulate their man-marking setup. Spurs to win is probably the best bet.