Fri 10 February 2023, 10:30
Tottenham HotspurGo back almost 110 years, and the goalscoring seeds were sown for this fixture.
The first meeting between these teams was in the first round of the FA Cup on 10 January, 1914 as we took on the Foxes in their old guise of Leicester Fosse. The result? A 5-5 draw! We went on to win the replay 2-0 at the Lane before going out to Manchester City.
Since then, it's been goals galore, particularly in the Premier League era, where 33 meetings between the teams have produced 123 goals at a rate of 3.7 goals a game. Incredibly, that goal average increases further if you look at matches since the Foxes were promoted back into the Premier League in 2014/15 - 71 goals in 17 encounters at a rate of 4.1 a game! The last four meetings alone have produced 23 goals!
All those goals mean we've seen some incredible matches between the teams - here are five of the best in the Premier League since 2014/15...
21/3/2015 - Spurs 4-3 Leicester
Harry Kane spent the second half of 2012/13 on loan at Leicester - and it’s fair to say he’s haunted them since. The striker has 16 goals in 15 appearances against the Foxes - many detailed below - and this belter at the Lane provided a couple of career landmarks for the then 21-year-old. First up, his first hat-trick in the Premier League - he now has eight - while his third goal that afternoon was the 50th of his career. We were quick out of the traps again as Kane put us 2-0 up, only for the Foxes to hit back to make it 2-2 at the start of the second half. Jeffrey Schlupp’s own goal and Kane’s third made it 4-2 before David Nugent’s late goal made for an uncomfortable last few minutes at 4-3, but we held on.
18/5/2017 - Leicester 1-6 Spurs
The penultimate game of a memorable campaign - unbeaten at home in our final season at White Hart Lane, second with eventually a Club record points tally in the Premier League - saw us return to the KP with the Foxes as reigning champions. This was all about Harry Kane though, as the striker scored his first and so far only four-goal haul for us in a prolific final week that saw him score the final goal from a Spurs player at the Lane, score four against Leicester and then another hat-trick in our final game of 2016/17 at Hull, eight goals in a week to land the Golden Boot. We led 2-0 at the break, Heung-Min Son also on target for his 20th of the campaign, Ben Chilwell gave Leicester hope at 2-1 just before the hour but we put on the burners with three more from Harry and another from Sonny making it a night to remember.
13/5/2018 - Spurs 5-4 Leicester
This is the pick of the bunch against Leicester, and surely one of the best games of the Premier League era. Third place was up for grabs as we stepped out at Wembley, and it all happened! We were 1-0 down inside five minutes, quickly level through Harry Kane, but when Kelechi Iheanacho pinged one from 25 yards for 3-1 two minutes into the second half, we looked in trouble. Erik Lamela sparked a superb 10-minute comeback, scoring twice and forcing an own goal for 4-3, but Leicester wouldn’t let go and Vardy made it 4-4 on 73 minutes. The stage was set for Kane, who delivered in style, beating Hamza Choudhury all ends up before curling home the winner three minutes later. Third place secured, and Kane became the first Spur to score 30 goals in a Premier League season. He then led England to the semi-finals of the World Cup...
23/5/2021 - Leicester 2-4 Spurs
Gareth Bale signed off in style with a late cameo in the latest goal fest between the teams in the final match of last season in May last year. Once again, there was plenty on the line - Leicester came into the game level on points with Liverpool and after a Champions League spot, but we also wanted European football, and to stay ahead of Arsenal, who were a point behind us and hosting Brighton. Jamie Vardy struck twice from the spot either side of Harry Kane’s volley as Foxes led 2-1 going into the final quarter of the match. Kasper Schmeichel then somehow diverted Heung-Min Son’s corner into his own net for 2-2 and, as Leicester pushed on, we picked them off with Bale, off the bench on 68 minutes, converting from Kane’s pass on 87 minutes before strolling through, hitting the post and then tapping in the rebound six minutes into added time. We finished seventh, Bale reached double-figures in the Premier League and Kane capped it all with a memorable, personal double - the Golden Boot and the Playmaker Award for most assists in 2020/21.
17/9/2022 - Spurs 6-2 Leicester
Six goals and a stunning second half hat-trick for Heung-Min Son sent everyone home happy after another spectacular encounter between the teams, this time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September. We trailed early after Youri Tielemans scored a twice-taken penalty - Hugo Lloris saved the initial effort, but was judged to be off his line by VAR - but responded well to lead 2-1 after two set-piece headers from Harry Kane and Eric Dier. We looked in control only for James Maddison to level it up just before half-time. We came scorching out of the traps in the second half as Rodrigo Bentancur scored a vital third less than a minute in, winning possession high before a clinical finish for 3-2. From there, it was the Sonny show. The Korean came off the bench on 59 minutes and scored a hat-trick in 13. The first, a beauty of a curler with his right foot into the top corner from 22 yards, the second arguably better, this time a trademark left-foot effort from similar distance. He was then sent clear four minutes from time to complete a memorable treble.
