Premier League Monday night football makes its long-awaited return on August 19, as Tottenham Hotspur provide Leicester City with a stern test of their top-flight credentials at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes are adjusting to life without Championship-winning coach Enzo Maresca, while Spurs have top-four desires to fulfil after coming so close yet so far last term.
With the Arsenal-Tottenham rivalry still as bitter as ever, a chunk of Lilywhites fans happily relinquished their hopes of watching their side play Champions League football in 2024-25 at the expense of the Gunners’ title dream, as a 2-0 home loss to Manchester City in the closing stages of the campaign proved telling on two fronts.
After an apoplectic Ange Postecoglou ranted and raved about supporters siding against their team, Spurs still wound up in a respectable fifth position to earn direct entry into the Europa League, but there was a palpable sense of what could have been for the North London crop.
No manager had ever taken more than 25 points in their first 10 Premier League games before Postecoglou hit the 26-mark, but as injuries and inconsistency began to take its toll, Tottenham spent most of the campaign hovering on the periphery of their title-chasing rivals.
Nevertheless, Postecoglou always insisted that a top-four finish was never the priority for his first campaign in charge – rather serious signs of progression – and a praiseworthy start to pre-season saw Tottenham put all of Hearts, Queens Park Rangers, Vissel Kobe and Team K-League to the sword.
However, two defeats against two Bayern Munich sides – the latter of which featured departed top scorer Harry Kane – disrupted Spurs’ summer momentum, but only one of the visitors’ last eight opening-day contests in the Premier League has seen them come out on the wrong end of the scoreline.
Postecoglou prepares for season number two at the Tottenham helm, Monday’s match will mark a maiden competitive game for Steve Cooper as Leicester head coach, after 2023-24 title-winning boss Enzo Maresca could not resist the pull of a long-term Chelsea contract.
Some members of the King Power faithful became disenchanted with Maresca’s style towards the end of his reign anyway, as after leading the Championship back for months on end, a downturn in form plunged Leicester’s automatic promotion hopes into serious jeopardy.
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