Excitement is building as Leicester City look forward to hosting Tottenham Hotspur in both sides’ opening game of the Premier League season on Monday.
As well as excitement, there is likely to be a fair amount of apprehension in the Leicester City ranks as they look to survive in the Premier League this season.
Steve Cooper has made five signings since taking over from Enzo Maresca as manager this summer, with Facundo Buonanotte’s loan move from Brighton the latest.
The Welsh coach will want more, with hopes that deals for striker Adam Hlozek and winger Wilfried Zaha can be completed.
However, for now he must focus on the players he already has at the club and Cooper has three big decisions to make ahead of facing Tottenham on Monday night.
Who does Steve Cooper select to play up front for Leicester City against Tottenham?
Leicester have been struck by a double blow as strikers Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka are both expected to miss the start of the season through injury.
Cooper hopes to have Hlozek at the club imminently, but for Tottenham he has a selection headache with 21-year-old Tom Cannon the only natural centre-forward available to him.
Cannon was expected to go on loan this summer before Vardy and Daka’s injuries, having scored just two league goals last season.
When Daka went off in the first half in the friendly against RC Lens last weekend, Cooper showed he does not trust the striker as he instead opted to bring on winger Stephy Mavididi up front.
This was ineffective as Leicester mustered just two shots across 90 minutes of their 3-0 defeat and lacked a focal point that Cannon may have offered.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid is a versatile attacker and could also be an option to lead the line, with Cooper having a big call to make.
Cooper must decide who partners Wout Faes for Leicester City
At the other end of the pitch, Cooper needs to decide on Wout Faes‘ central defensive partner.
The Leicester boss confirmed Conor Coady is set to be out for a month after limping out of training last week, with the experienced defender expected to be backed by Cooper after being out of favour last season.
That leaves Cooper with a choice of Jannik Vestergaard or new £12 million arrival Caleb Okoli to partner Faes.
Both have their flaws, but Okoli may have played himself out of the side with a dismal performance in the last friendly of the summer against Lens.
Vestergaard played alongside Faes for the bulk of last season and Cooper may decide to allow the pair to reprise their partnership against Spurs.
Cooper must decide how Leicester should approach Tottenham
Tottenham are a side that play very good football under Postecoglou.
On their day they can carve through opponents at will, so Cooper needs to be careful about how he decides to approach the game.
The Leicester fans will be in full voice and Cooper could be tempted to instruct his side to use the energy of the crowd to get at Spurs early on and attack with numbers.
Given Tottenham’s defensive flaws, this is a tactic that could work.
However, he may be better served allowing his Foxes players to grow into their first game back in the Premier League by setting up to be hard to beat in order to avoid being torn apart early on.
It may be difficult for Leicester fans to watch, but it would be worth it if Cooper masterminds a result.
Leave a Reply