2  Danny SIMPSON
  5  Wes MORGAN
15  Harry MAGUIRE
  3  Ben CHILWELL

26  Riyad MAHREZ    (  7  Demarai GRAY  77)
21  Vincente IBORRA
25  Wilfried NDIDI
11  Marc ALBRIGHTON

20  Shinji OKAZAKI  (38  Hamza CHOUDHURY  83)

  9  Jamie VARDY    (19  Islam SLIMANI  87)

Unused subs: 
12  Ben HAMER
16  Aleksander DRAGOVIC
10  Andy KING
18  Daniel AMARTEY
 

15  Eric DIER
  6  Davinson SANCHEZ
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN     

17  Moussa SISSOKO  (  7  Heung-Min SON  57)
19  Mousa DEMBELE  (18  Fernando LLORENTE  69)

24  Serge AURIER
23  Christian ERIKSEN  (11  Erik LAMELA  77     )
20  DELE Alli
  3  Danny ROSE

10  Harry KANE 

Unused subs: 
13  Michel VORM
  2  Kieran TRIPPIER
33  Ben DAVIES
21  Juan FOYTH
 

Following the lacklustre first half performance against West Brom on Saturday, Spurs followed a similar pattern n this game against Leicester City, who took a two goal half-time lead that Tottenham, try as they might could not salvage anything from.  Two goals out of the blue won it for the home team, while Spurs squandered chances to earn a draw, but in the end suffered a defeat which is another set-back after doing so well in Europe.

Erik Lamela made the bench, as Pochettino rotated the side again, with Rose in for Davies, Dembele starting with Sissoko in the defensive two, while Serge Aurier came in for Kieran Trippier.  Leicester were more or less at full strength and they got the match underway.  The early chances fell the home side's way, with Lloris rushing out of his box to foil Vardy running onto a ball over the top, then Ndidi tested Hugo from 25 yards out, but the keeper was always behind it.   They came closest in the ninth minute when a corner was headed at goal by Morgan, but |Rose headed away from in front of the line, although Lloris might have had it covered.

Kane's run past a couple of Leicester players saw him play a bent pass across the pitch to Sissoko and his pull back was nicked off Christian Eriksen's toe for a corner.  A chipped ball forward by Albrighton saw Vardy running onto it and letting it drop over his shoulder and volleying it dipping over Lloris to open the goal-scoring.  It was a strike in a million, but they are going in against us at the moment and on the balance of the early play, it was a fair reflection of the game.

When Kane set up Moussa Sissoko going in one on one with Schmeichel, he forced a save, with Iborra clearing it off the line from under the bar.  It was a great chance, which if it had been the other way around, you might have backed Harry to finish it.  There was almost a repeat of the goal, but this time Hugo grabbed the ball off him, just before he was going to  make contact.  Halfway through the half, Hugo once more rushed out to head the ball away as Leicester looked for Vardy with another long ball.  A keeper kicking the ball out at the other end almost saw Schmeichel present a chance to Dele, when he was aiming for Chilwell, but the Spurs man couldn't reach it and it went out for a Spurs throw.

Spurs came close when they broke away from a Leicester corner when Spurs broke away with Eriksen feeding Alli, forcing a save from Schmeichel and the follow up saw Harry Kane with a good chance, but he couldn't touch it as Dele had the last touch, so would have been offside.  It was end to end stuff, with Rose having to knock the ball away a cross as Okazaki was sneaking in behind him.  A foul by Aurier gave Mahrez the chance to put a ball into the box and Morgan should have done better with a free header that he put wide.  Kane played a fine cross on the half-volley to Rose on the left, but after chesting it, the Spurs left wing-back smashed a shot over the bar.

There was little time on the ball for Spurs, with Leicester working hard to shut us down, thus the ball kept getting turned over and the early ball was aimed at the Spurs defence and aimed at catching them out.  But with ten minutes left, Spurs were working their passing game a bit better and Sissoko did well on the left, forcing a hurried clearance with a low cross.  Kane won a corner on the right, resulting in a shot on target, as Aurier hit it straight at the keeper.  Vertonghen almost found Kane with a header from a corner, but Maguire just got there first.  With the game moving into the second minute of added time, Leicester broke away after being pinned back in their defensive third.  They fed Mahrez on the right and nobody shut off him coming inside, allowing him to bend the ball past Hugo into the top corner from the edge of the box.  It was another cracking goal, but the defence looked fragile and didn't make an attempt to close him down, so without much time to restart the match, it was a bad time to let a goal in.

At the start of the second half, Spurs showed immediate attacking effort, with Kane taking an early shot that flashed across the Leicester goal and just wide of the far post, with Schmeichel looking like he had it covered if it had been on target.  Harry was up for it, with a corner coming in and Kane's header was blocked by Maguire in front of him.  Okazaki had a good headed chance but put it over the bar, when Chilwell ran half the length of the pitch without anyone getting a meaningful challenge on him.

Tottenham were pressing and Son's introduction aided that new attacking spirit, but Eric Dier lost the ball to Vardy, who was away and was robbed of the ball by Vertonghen, but straight away Tottenham broke upfield and some pinball in the box dropped to Eriksen's right foot, but he scuffed it wide from six yards out, with few bodies in front of him.  Llorente had replaced Dembele, then Lamela came on for Eriksen, with Mahrez making way for Gray, as the changes were made to try to change the game.

The match was drifting to a poor defeat, when Lamela put a little ball through to Harry Kane and he buried the ball past Schmeichel form the angle on the right.  Lamela's return had been long awaited and made his presence felt straight away, which set up a frantic last ten minutes, as Leicester dropped back further towards their own goal, trying to protect what they had.  A fine cross played in by Aurier picked out Llorente's right foot and put it over the top, when he might have done better trying with his other foot.  Lamela almost scored with a header, then Kane was denied by a punch from Schmeichel and had a free-kick given against him, when the keeper was looking for a foul before the Spurs forward got close to him.  Additionally, Lamela was shown a yellow card for a nothing challenge on Iborra.

There were four minutes of added time, but Spurs looked as though they had left it too late.  Aurier crossed for Dele to attack, but Gray did well to get  to the ball first.  Dier and Sanchez went for the ball from the corner and Eric put it too high.  The chances that we had missed were totting up, so, when Rose went into the box and was brought down by Ndidi, Taylor waved away claims for a penalty and Gray broke away for the Foxes, but it broke down and the ball was moved to the other end very swiftly, where Son bent a shot wide of the Leicester goal. 

Leicester held out until the final whistle, leaving us with nothing to show for the second half performance, other than Kane's goal and Lamela's assist.  With the chances we created, we should have come away with something, as Leicester tired and Spurs gained the upper hand, but we can't be starting two goals behind and need to step up our game in the first half.  If we can start at a decent pace, get a goal ahead, then the other side have to come out and play, leaving us the ability to hit them on the break.  Watford lost 2-4 at home to Man U tonight and we go there on Saturday.

The result of that game might prove to be an interesting comparison.

Sparky Marky