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Tottenham Hotspur vs Leeds United: 02/01/2021 – match preview and starting XIs

Tottenham Hotspur vs Leeds United

Date: 02/01/2021

K/O: 12:30

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Referee: David Coote

TV: BT Sport 1

Having had their latest home game postponed due to coronavirus in Fulham’s camp, Tottenham host Leeds United after a six-day break of football.

Facing relegation battlers Fulham would have been a crucial opportunity for Spurs to turn their fortunes around heading into the New Year as Tottenham’s previous four league games have yielded them just two points, leaving confidence low. An extra three points would have put Mourinho’s men into third position, and the jump would have likely brought with it a renewed energy at Spurs.

However, Mourinho will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing Leeds, who have drawn everyone’s attention to their attacking prowess and eagerness to barrage forward without worrying too much about what’s behind them. Of course, Spurs have gained a recent reputation as a counter-attacking outfit, so should be well suited to exploiting Marcelo Bielsa’s system.

Having said that, Tottenham have got into the frustrating habit of sitting back after scoring one goal, which often comes early in the match. It would be absolutely no use to deploy this tactic against Leeds who have scored in all but two of their games this season and regularly claim two or more. A two or three-goal cushion may be required from Spurs on Saturday.

So from the opposite side, it seems pretty clear that Leeds need to be careful throwing men forward, even though that hasn’t been their game plan on many occasions this year. It would probably be sensible to go easy on the attacking but Bielsa may well just decide to go balls to the wall as usual and we could see a hefty scoreline by the end of the day.

Leeds’ last outing was a trip to the Hawthorns to face West Brom. United came back 5-0 victors after a mesmerising display against a team who have claimed points from Liverpool and Manchester City in recent events. It seems clear that Bielsa’s style of play could beat the best of teams on their day, and Spurs provide challenging target practice this weekend.

If the away side manage to break Spurs’ sturdy defence it could either be their downfall or a blessing. It would force the likes of Kane and Son onto the ball more often in the hope of breaking through. But at the same time, once Leeds get one goal, it often opens the floodgates as attacking confidence builds. It will certainly be an interesting fixture for the first game week of 2021.

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur

Gareth Bale was taken off at half time against Stoke in December and has not featured since. Thus, he is unexpected to play on Saturday. There are a couple of extra doubts in the Spurs camp, although both are not usually first-team players. Lucas Moura and Carlos Vinicius are both suffering from minor knocks so may not be available to Mourinho.

Leeds United

The ever-important Mateusz Klich was taken off with a minor knock against West Brom but should remain fit to play on Saturday. Meanwhile, Robin Koch continues to recover from a knee injury he suffered in early December. Also out with long-term injuries are Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente.

Predicted Starting XIs

Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Reguilon, Dier, Alderweireld, Aurier; Hojbjerg, Sissoko; Son, Ndombele, Bergwijn; Kane

Leeds United (4-1-4-1): Meslier; Alioski, Struijk, Ayling, Dallas; Phillips; Harrison, Klich, Rodrigo, Raphinha; Bamford

Score Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Leeds United 

Spurs could get back to winning ways and goalscoring ways against Leeds on the weekend. Anything less than two goals for Spurs would make it a nervy afternoon for Mourinho.

Harry Mahon

90maat's team correspondent for Tottenham Hotspur, graduate of Loughborough University and current student at the University of Surrey.

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