Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City will both be looking to keep their European aspirations alive when they lock horns in the penultimate round of Premier League fixtures on Sunday afternoon.
Leicester still occupy the fourth and final Champions League spot despite a poor run of form, while Spurs are one point adrift of sixth-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers in the race for Europa League qualification.
Match preview
© Reuters
Tottenham's dramatic derby win over Arsenal gave Jose Mourinho's men the confidence and incentive to kick on for the remainder of the campaign, and Spurs built on that win with a comfortable 3-1 triumph over Newcastle United in midweek.
Harry Kane bagged a brace to take his Premier League tally to 15 for the season, and Spurs' current seventh-placed standing may be good enough for a route into the Europa League by the end of the campaign.
Mourinho's men would have certainly been expected to be in contention for the top four at the start of the season, however, and there is no denying the fact that it has been a troublesome campaign for the Lilywhites following the elation at reaching the Champions League final last season.
Sixth spot, currently occupied by Wolves, would guarantee European football for next term and Spurs sit just one point behind the West Midlands outfit at this stage, so Mourinho's men will be desperate for Crystal Palace to pick up a result against Wolves before Spurs themselves take on Palace on the final day.
As previously mentioned, seventh may suffice for European qualification depending on the outcome of the FA Cup. Arsenal are the only team outside of the top six left in the competition, and the Gunners could seek revenge on their rivals and nab the final Europa League place should they get past Manchester City in the semis and triumph in the final.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Leicester's top four standing is in serious peril after an underwhelming set of results, but the Foxes are still in the top four before the penultimate round of matches.
However, Manchester United are well-poised to usurp the Foxes and only sit outside the Champions League places on goal difference, meaning that the final-day clash between Leicester and United promises to be a pivotal encounter between two sides vying for a return to Europe's elite competition.
The goal for Leicester is simple - Brendan Rodgers's men simply have to win their final two fixtures in order to bring Champions League football back to the King Power Stadium, and the Foxes will head into the clash with Spurs following a crucial 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Thursday.
Ayoze Perez and Demarai Gray both struck to further Leicester's European ambitions while denting Sheffield United's at the same time, and while the Foxes are extremely unlikely to finish lower than fifth with two games remaining, Rodgers has issued a rallying cry to his players as the fight for the final Champions League spot reaches a dramatic climax.
On a personal level, Jamie Vardy is in a strong position to collect the Golden Boot as he sits on 23 goals for the season - three more than Danny Ings and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - and Vardy was unlucky not to make it 24 when his thunderous effort cannoned off the post in the victory over Sheffield United.
Spurs Premier League form: WLWDWW
Leicester Premier League form: DLWDLW
Leicester form (all competitions): LLWDLW
Team News
© Reuters
Tottenham right-back Serge Aurier turned out for the full 90 minutes against Newcastle despite the tragic death of his brother, but the Ivorian is currently in France with his family and may not feature for the visit of Leicester.
Lucas Moura should start despite concerns over fatigue, while Dele Alli and Eric Dier are ruled out through injury and suspension respectively.
Tanguy Ndombele's Premier League season is also over, but the midfielder was never likely to get the nod over Harry Winks, Moussa Sissoko and Giovani Lo Celso for the weekend clash.
As for Leicester, Rodgers will have to make do without Ben Chilwell and James Maddison for the final two games of the season, and Marc Albrighton is also a doubt for the Foxes.
Caglar Soyuncu will serve the second of his three-match suspension following his red card against Bournemouth, while the absence of Christian Fuchs gives Luke Thomas another run out on the left-hand side.
Demarai Gray will be hoping that his goal against Sheffield United is enough to earn him a spot in the starting lineup for the trip to North London.
Spurs possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Tanganga, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies; Winks, Sissoko, Lo Celso; Lucas, Kane, Son
Leicester possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Bennett, Evans, Morgan; Justin, Ndidi, Tielemans, Thomas; Gray, Vardy, Perez
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Leicester City
Leicester will be fully aware that anything other than a victory opens the door for United to leapfrog them into the top four before the two sides meet on the final day of the season. However, the Foxes are now coming up against a Spurs side with a point to prove, and we expect a depleted Leicester team to come away with a point in a game where nothing less than three will suffice.
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leicester City win with a probability of 43.41%. A win for Tottenham Hotspur had a probability of 32.15% and a draw had a probability of 24.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Leicester City win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.52%) and 0-2 (6.78%). The likeliest Tottenham Hotspur win was 2-1 (7.61%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.38%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 2.1% likelihood.
