Mauricio Pochettino has justified his decision to drop Harry Kane to the bench for Tottenham’s trip to Leicester on Saturday evening, citing the upcoming festive schedule as a reason.
The England captain has nine goals in 15 Premier League appearances going into the game, but was left to out the starting line-up in favour of Lucas Moura.
Kane has historically enjoyed himself against the Foxes, scoring seven in his last three outings against the former champions.
Pochettino will no doubt have one eye on Tuesday’s vital Champions League clash with Barcelona, a match that Spurs will feel they need to win to secure qualification to the knockout stages.
Speaking the before the match, as quoted on the club’s official Twitter account, the Argentine said: “Everyone needs to rest in this busy period, it’s impossible for every player to play every three days without risk.
“Harry is not a machine and needs rest too. Our potential is our team and our squad.”
https://twitter.com/SpursOfficial/status/1071480193649426433
OPINION
There will be no middle ground in the assessment of Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to bench Harry Kane against Leicester City. If Spurs win then he will be lauded as a pragmatic man manager, resting his most dangerous goal threat to give him the best chance possible of being sharp and delay to face the might of Barcelona in a herculean task in midweek. If his gamble doesn’t pay off, however, and Tottenham drop points on the road then the Argentine will be lambasted for getting his priorities wrong. Spurs’ title challenge is already looking fragile, with the Londoners nine points behind unbeaten leaders Liverpool, and the feeling will be that one more hit of damage to their credentials might be enough to polish off any slim hopes of a serious assault on the summit. Pochettino will know that, and his side should still have enough to squeeze past Leicester, but the Foxes are no slouches, and there are plenty of other sides who he would have felt a lot more comfortable leaving out his talisman against.