Paul Merson has predicted that Tottenham will win 3-1 against Leicester when Mauricio Pochettino’s men travel to the King Power Stadium on Saturday evening.
Spurs bounced back from their North London derby defeat by breezing to a 3-1 win against Southampton on Wednesday night while the Foxes had to settle for a 1-1 draw against basement boys Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Merson has been drooling over the Leicester star James Maddison in the build-up to the weekend’s action, claiming that even though the former Norwich playmaker has huge potential, he will not be able to help his side win against Spurs on Saturday.
“I watched Leicester last week against Watford when they won 2-0 but if they give Tottenham the chances Watford had, then they’ll be punished,” said Merson on the Sky Sports website.
“In James Maddison, who has two goals in his last two games, Leicester have an excellent young player who is only going to get better and better but I just think this Tottenham team will be too strong for Leicester.
“Apart from that 45 minutes against Arsenal, Spurs have had a good start to the season and I see it continuing at the King Power Stadium.”
OPINION
Merson is probably right here, it’s hard to see anything but a Tottenham win at the weekend. Spurs will be hungry to prove their critics wrong after losing to Arsenal last week. They were expected to beat Southampton but a trip to Leicester will be a much harder challenge, especially after Claude Puel’s side will also be looking to make amends after only just earning a draw away at Fulham. Spurs will have Jan Vertonghen back from his suspension this weekend so him and Toby Alderweireld in the defence should be quite hard for the Foxes to break down, even if Maddison is in good form. The 22-year-old has shown that he is a star in the making since joining the Foxes in the summer and if he continues to keep playing well then he is going to become a regular England international and may even be courted by a top-six club in the future. Tottenham should be one of those clubs keeping close tabs on his progress. Who knows, maybe he will be at the new stadium one day.