Maddison owners wait on injury as Son delivers again

Leicester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Goals: Harry Kane (£11.0m) | Ricardo Pereira (£6.0m), James Maddison (£7.1m)

Assists: Son Heung-min (£9.6m) | Hamza Choudhury (£4.5m)

Bonus Points: Maddison x3, Kane x2, Pereira x1

Leicester City emerged victorious over Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-1 win as Mauricio Pochettino’s side let yet another lead slip in the 2019/20 campaign. 

After a disappointing result mid-week against Olympiacos, the lunch-time kick-off at the King Power Stadium presented the perfect opportunity for Spurs to banish their demons and return to winning ways in domestic competition. 

Yet Brendan Rodgers galvanised the Foxes to come back from 1-0 down and secure an important victory in front of their home fans in the East Midlands. 

Ricardo Pereira (£6.0m) got the first of the Foxes’ fightback, drilling a shot past Paulo Gazzaniga (£4.4m).

But it was James Maddison (£7.1m) who stole the headlines with a fine strike from distance to secure all three points for Leicester as they rise to third in the table. 

Maddison’s credentials as a mid-priced midfielder with goalscoring threat are well documented after his exceptional debut Premier League season in which he scored seven goals and registered seven assists to record a total of 137 points. 

He has shown promise in recent weeks and finally delivered with his excellent Gameweek 6 goal combined with maximum bonus points.

Maddison was certainly due a goal, having already gone close twice against Spurs. He tested Gazzaniga with a curled effort from the edge of the box in the first-half, followed by a dazzling run, beating two defenders to then have his shot pushed wide of the near post shortly after.

His performance in the victory over Spurs once again underlined his potential value to managers looking for a differential midfielder (11.3% ownership), although they should tread easy for now.

Maddison picked up a potentially worrying ankle injury late in the game, triggering some concern after the full-time whistle. Leicester had used all their substitutes by this point so nobody was able to replace him. However, rather than come off and leave the Foxes with 10 men, Maddison elected to spend the final five minutes of the match standing virtually still inside the centre-circle. We will certainly need to pay close attention to Rodgers’ next press conference.

“I’ll go and see it now, there’s a little bit of worry but we’ll see.” – James Maddison

“He took a heavy knock on his ankle, so we will see how he is tomorrow.” – Brendan Rodgers

Both Jamie Vardy (£8.9m) and Maddison looked sharp throughout the lunch-time kick-off. The centre-forward was unable to build on his goal-tally of three so far this season, but the 31-year-old’s incisive, troubling runs into the final-third suggest this is still a player with the ability to excel under Brendan Rodgers in 2019/20.

The likes of Youri Tielemans (£6.4m) and Ayoze Perez (£6.1m) were also lively in the final third, with the Foxes continuing to apply pressure and test the Spurs’ backline in the second half.

This victory means Leicester have now lost just once in six Premier League games this season, and the plethora of exciting, attacking options provides managers with mid-price options moving forward.

Yet while this was a victory that underlined Leicester’s attacking credentials, it was an afternoon that served as a timely reminder as to just how fragile Spurs’ defence can be in the face of considerable pressure.

The mid-week capitulation against Olympiakos combined with letting a two-goal lead slip against rivals Arsenal serve as a concerning back-drop to this latest poor result.

Serge Aurier (£4.9m) did display his attacking prowess with a fine strike that was ruled out by VAR but Spurs simply do not look sturdy enough to justify investment in defence, although they were short Hugo Lloris (£5.5m) whose wife had just given birth.

Furthermore, there will be many that argue they were unfortunate to see their second goal ruled out given how marginal the offside call was, and the impact on the two sets of players was stark. While Spurs were dealt a blow of losing out on a goal, Leicester were spurred on as if they had found the net themselves.

“We need to say that when you get the benefit, it’s not getting the benefit, it’s fair or not fair, offside or not offside. I’m not going to talk. I’m only going to say that we all accept that system in the game and now I am not going to complain. I am going to accept that maybe if you are going to say it’s offside or wasn’t if it wasn’t clear, but I trust in the referees and if the referees say it was or wasn’t I’m not going to complain.” – Mauricio Pochettino

Harry Kane (£11.0m) did open the scoring for Spurs with an exquisite improvised finish, after Son Heung-min (£9.6m) delicately laid off the ball for the striker.

It was a truly impressive finish as he was fouled by the defender but still kept enough composure as he fell to the ground to control the ball and crash it into Kasper Schmeichel‘s (£5.0m) net from the ground. 

Whilst premium strikers such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) and Sergio Aguero (£12.2m) have stolen the headlines with their rampant goalscoring streaks in recent weeks, Kane’s performance in the defeat to Leicester was a reminder to managers that the England captain is still able to provide goalscoring returns. 

It must be said that Kane was unfortunate not to come away with an assist on top of his goal. It was his pass that set up Aurier’s goal, ruled out for an offside against Son in the build-up.

But given the explosive performances that the likes of Aubameyang and Aguero have been consistently delivering, it is difficult for managers to select a forward such as Kane when he is not matching their goalscoring consistency.  

For Son, who built on his brace against Palace with an assist, this was a game that highlighted the South-Korean’s attacking abilities and a performance that rewarded those managers who brought in the forward for Gameweek 6. 

With games against Southampton, Brighton and Watford to come in their next three, Son is starting to display form that would warrant inclusion for managers, having recorded attacking returns in his last three Premier League appearances – the most of any Spurs player. 

This was a heavily disappointing defeat for Spurs, but the growing viability of Leicester’s attacking assets simply cannot go un-noticed for managers given their exceptional form under Rodgers in 2019/20. 

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Leicester City XI (4-1-4-1): Schmeichel; Chilwell, Söyüncü, Evans, R Pereira; Ndidi; H Barnes (D Gray 82′), Maddison, Tielemans (Choudhury 84′), Pérez (Praet 67′); Vardy.

Tottenham Hotspur XI (4-3-1-2): Gazzaniga; Rose, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Aurier; Ndombele (Moura 86′), Winks, Sissoko (Wanyama 67′); Lamela (Eriksen 79′); Son, Kane.

Lessons learned from Gameweek 6:

• Southampton 1-3 Bournemouth
• Leicester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
• Burnley 2-0 Norwich City
• Everton 0-2 Sheffield United
• Manchester City 8-0 Watford
• Newcastle United 0-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
• Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
• West Ham United 2-0 Manchester United
• Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa
• Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool