Tottenham Hotspur will be aiming to kick off the New Year on the right foot when they welcome Leeds United to North London for Saturday's Premier League encounter.
The visitors trounced West Bromwich Albion 5-0 in midweek, whereas Tottenham's clash with Fulham was postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak in the Cottagers' camp.
Match preview
© Reuters
The visit of Fulham would have represented the perfect opportunity for Tottenham to return to winning ways and end the year on a high note, but as was the case with numerous fixtures in midweek, that London derby had to be called off after Fulham reported several coronavirus cases.
On the other hand, Jose Mourinho's men would have been thankful for a few more days of rest after a gruelling encounter with Wolverhampton Wanderers, in which the Spurs manager set his team up to defend and did not reap the rewards.
Tanguy Ndombele took just 57 seconds to break the deadlock at Molineux last Sunday, but Wolves deservedly levelled through Romain Saiss in the dying embers of the match, and Mourinho once again drew heavy criticism for his perceived negative style of play.
Spurs have since slipped out of the title race amid an underwhelming spell of form, and that draw with Wolves stretched their winless run in the top flight to four matches since a 2-0 North London derby win over Arsenal earlier this month.
Having been neck-and-neck with Liverpool for the majority of the campaign so far, Mourinho's side now find themselves seven points adrift of the champions, although a place in the top four is still within their reach before Manchester United, Aston Villa and Everton take to the pitch on Friday.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion's rearguard produced a stellar performance to restrict Liverpool to a solitary goal last weekend, but the Baggies defence was breached all too easily by Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds.
The Whites struck four times in the first half - with Ezgjan Alioski, Jack Harrison and Rodrigo netting after Romaine Sawyers's comical own goal - and a delightful strike from Raphinha completed the rout at The Hawthorns on Tuesday evening.
Aside from their narrow 1-0 win over Burnley last weekend, Leeds simply do not do low-scoring affairs, and Bielsa's talented attacking contingent are sure to fancy their chances against a Spurs side who have become renowned for sitting back.
However, Leeds' defensive frailties are very much still there - West Brom are the only team to have shipped more goals than the Whites this season - but the 30 strikes that Bielsa's men have chalked up at the correct end of the field can only be bettered by Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea.
Leeds have risen to 11th in the table after taking nine points from their last four matches, and should West Ham suffer defeat at Everton on Friday, the Whites would leapfrog the capital outfit if they can at least hold Spurs to a draw this weekend.
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form: DWDLLD
Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions): WDLLWD
Leeds United Premier League form: LLWLWW
Team News
© Reuters
Mourinho opted to deploy a three-man defence against Wolves, but it would not be a surprise to see the Spurs manager revert to a 4-2-3-1 here after last weekend's disappointing result.
Gareth Bale and Giovani Lo Celso are both set to remain on the sidelines for another couple of weeks at least, and there are also doubts over the fitness of Brazilian attackers Carlos Vinicius and Lucas Moura, but both players are expected to be fine.
Several changes from the draw at Molineux can be expected on the hosts' end, with Serge Aurier, Moussa Sissoko and Steven Bergwijn potentially coming back into the team.
As for the visitors, Mateusz Klich lasted just under an hour against West Brom before taking a blow to the thigh, and the midfielder is doubtful for this encounter.
Pablo Hernandez or Jamie Shackleton could deputise in midfield if Klich is not cleared to play, while defenders Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente are both expected to miss out once more.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Sissoko; Bergwijn, Ndombele, Son; Kane
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Dallas, Ayling, Struijk, Alioski; Phillips; Raphinha, Rodrigo, Hernandez, Harrison; Bamford
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Leeds United
This has all the makings of an enthralling game. Tottenham's pace on the counter-attack could prove deadly against a depleted Leeds defence, but the Whites' relentless pressing and affinity for goals should serve them well against this Mourinho team. Spurs will be desperate to put their miserable end to 2020 behind them straight away, but we can see Leeds coming away with a point from this showdown.
Top betting tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Tottenham Hotspur win with a probability of 44.92%. A win for Leeds United had a probability of 30.75% and a draw had a probability of 24.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Tottenham Hotspur win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.2%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.74%) and 2-0 (7.08%). The likeliest Leeds United win was 1-2 (7.38%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.36%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 3.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Tottenham Hotspur would win this match.
