Leicester vs Tottenham live updates: Premier League team news ...

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This has been one of the most intriguing match-ups in recent years in the Premier League.

You have hardly been able to move for all the goals in the meetings between these two teams. In fact, of the Premier League fixtures to have been played 30 or more times, Leicester vs Tottenham has the highest goals-per-game average (3.8 – 128 goals in 34 games).

And that has ramped up to the extreme in the last five matches with 28 goals at an average of 5.6 goals per game.

Let's hope for more of the same this evening!

Remember that chant?

Wonder if this guy will be belting it out after Vardy does a classic wind-up celebration after scoring tonight.

Can't imagine anyone else starting up front for Leicester, can you?

Bet he'll still be rattling around smashing home tap-ins in 2075 when Mauricio Pochettino's grandson is manager.

So, to Leicester's line-up. Mads Hermansen is still the No 1, with Danny Ward, interestingly, preferred to Jakub Stolarczyk or Daniel Iversen on the bench.

In defence, Cooper opts for the experience of Jannik Vestergaard and the pace of Victor Kristiansen, fresh off a successful loan at Italian side Bologna, alongside James Justin and Wout Faes. Ricardo Pereira and new signing Caleb Okoli are on the bench.

In midfield, former Tottenham man Harry Winks plays alongside the seasoned Wilfred Ndidi and the gifted youngster Facundo Buonanotte, on loan from Brighton.

Jamie Vardy is fit to start in attack, and the 37-year-old veteran is flanked by Abdul Fatawu and another player making his debut, Bobby De Cordova-Reid.

Perhaps surprisingly, winger Stephy Mavididi only makes the replacements.

Ange Postecoglou has his first-choice goalkeeper and back four, which should be a big help defensively.

With Bissouma suspended, the midfield trio is technically strong and dynamic. James Maddison may be used as an orthodox No 10, with Bentancur and Sarr as a double pivot, or as a deeper No 8, flanking a defensive midfielder (likely Bentancur) with Sarr also granted freedom to roam.

Son and Solanke will be locks in the team when fully fit, I reckon, while Brennan Johnson edges out Dejan Kulusevski for a spot on the right wing. Leicester boss Steve Cooper, who managed Johnson at Nottingham Forest, knows all about the Welshman's threat.

Promising teenagers Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall will hope to make an impact off the bench.

Surprised Mavididi and particularly Ricardo are not starting tonight.

Not so surprised that Vardy is, though.

What a lovely embodiment of how fans feel at the start of a new season.

Optimistic. Cheerful. Sanguine (yes, I got a thesaurus for my birthday).

Or maybe this bloke's surname is Hope.

Who can say.

Tottenham Hotspur start the new Premier League campaign with a trip to face Leicester City tonight following an eventful summer: they have played friendlies in Australia, Scotland, Japan and South Korea, reshuffled their coaching staff and broken their transfer record. .

Postecoglou lifted the mood at Spurs during his first year in charge but expectations will be a lot higher now.

They narrowly missed out on finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League, so will be hoping the arrival of striker Dominic Solanke in a £65million ($83.4m) deal from Bournemouth can push them closer to success.

Below, The Athletic breaks down pre-season preparations and what to expect over the next nine months. Enjoy!

GO FURTHER

Spurs season preview: Solanke raises levels, Richarlison has point to prove

Leicester City are back in the Premier League, but they are far from the club regularly challenging for European qualification and aspiring to disrupt the established elite.

Relegation in the spring of 2023 was a disaster for a club that had bet the house on pushing towards the top of the Premier League and it will be a long road back to regain that status. The damage done could have lasting ramifications.

Enzo Maresca, who led Leicester to the Championship title, has left for Chelsea, while the prospect of a points deduction and the stalling of their squad rebuild after several departures have ensured a nervous pessimism lingers.

This could be one of their most challenging seasons in decades. Here is why.

GO FURTHER

Leicester City season preview: Cooper up against it, Fatawu the big hope, but PSR fears

Everybody expected Dominic Solanke to start tonight but it is still great to see him handed his debut.

With Yves Bissouma banned by the club for one game after a video emerged of him inhaling nitrous oxide, Postecoglou has opted for a midfield three of Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr and James Maddison.

How will Maddison fare on his first return to the club where he spent five years of his career?

A little more than an hour until kick-off.

Stick with us!

Leicester substitutes: Ward (GK); Pereira, Okoli, Nelson, Choudhury, Soumare, McAteer, Mavididi, Cannon.

Tottenham substitutes: Austin (GK); Spence, Davies, Dragusin, Gray, Bergvall, Kulusevski, Werner, Richarlison.

While Steve Cooper has named the below XI for his first competitive match as Leicester boss.

Leicester (4-3-3): Hermansen; Justin, Vestergaard, Faes, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Winks, Buonanotte; Fatawu, Vardy, Reid.

Here's how Ange Postecoglou's men line up tonight.

Tottenham (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son.

Only a couple of minutes until the two team line-ups are revealed!

For this season, the XIs are announced 75 minutes before kick-off, compared to an hour before, as was the case last season.

So not long to hold on...

Ange Postecoglou’s first 12 months in charge of Tottenham Hotspur felt like the club hitting the reset button. After the uninspiring style of play under Antonio Conte, Postecoglou quickly made them fun to watch again.

He won eight of his opening 10 league games and they eventually finished fifth, missing out on the top four by two points, but the overwhelming sense was still that it had been a positive season and a step in the right direction.

During his second year in charge of the Australia men’s national team, Postecoglou lifted the Asian Cup, and in his previous three club jobs (not counting Melbourne Victory, where he only stayed for a year), he has won the league title in year two.

So how will they try to close the gap over the next nine months? The Athletic has looked to the past for clues. Check out what we found out below.

GO FURTHER

Ange Postecoglou’s second seasons – what history and the data say Spurs can expect

Moore is the most exciting young player to emerge from the Tottenham academy for a generation and he signed a three-year deal this week.

The winger earned some first-team action for Ange Postecoglou’s side at the end of last season, making two brief substitute appearances in Premier League games in May, which Postecoglou said was a “reward” for how well he had been training with the seniors.

This summer, he has played a starring role for the first team, popping up with goals and assists. You have to remind yourself that Moore has only just turned 17, which means he will need careful management this season.

In recent years, Tottenham have had gifted teenagers — Marcus Edwards, Troy Parrott — who were hyped before they were ready for first-team football. Everyone at the club will be keen that Moore progresses at his own pace.