EPL Preview: Can Foxes Cope Without Vardy as Kane Leads Spurs Hunt?

There's been a sea change. Dissident groups previously underground are making themselves heard. It would appear not everybody wants Leicester City to win the Premier League title. A polling card previously housing only the name of Claudio Ranieri's side now bears another.

From party-poopers to a party in their own right, Tottenham Hotspur are giving floating voters a real dilemma. Has the fickle tide of popularity swung in Spurs' direction at this late juncture?

Has the boyband charm of Harry Kane, Dele Alli et al come into vogue at the expense of Jamie Vardy's foaming-at-the-mouth Johnny Rotten-style incandescence? Has Steptoe had his day? Is Toby Alderweireld’s graceful pick-pocketing way of defending that has seen him commit just nine fouls all season, all while wearing an immaculate white suit, now de rigueur over the Greco-Roman wrestling in the penalty box as favoured by Wes "The Mountie" Morgan and Robert "Hitman" Huth?

Having topped the opinion polls since hitting the summit in November, Leicester City have been the People’s Party pretty much all season. As with anything in life, though, from opinions to objects, when something becomes omnipresent, it loses its cachet of cool. A backlash has begun in earnest. Quiet but a backlash nonetheless.

A slurry of articles have been written over the past fortnight meticulously picking apart whether Leicester’s season constitutes a "fairytale" in the traditional sense. 

With a forensic eye for fairytale criteria that bordered on the unnerving, Matt Stead's piece for Football365 questioned earnestly whether any of the seven dwarfs had ever dived to win a penalty. Perhaps not, but a little-known fact is Grumpy once asked for a personal hearing with Walt Disney, having been suspended from the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs shoot for referring to the wicked Queen in a manner not dissimilar to how Vardy spoke to Jon Moss. She wasn’t a James Blunt fan either.

Umbrage has been taken to the extent one would presume the league leaders have insisted they be referred to as Leicester "Fairytale" City at all times. A thousand-yard stare to be issued to anyone who hasn’t read the memo, like when Andy Cole decided he wanted to be called Andrew.

Graham Ruthven asked on Bleacher Report this week: Is Leicester City's Premier League Title Challenge Really an Underdog Story?

Thankfully, there's a remarkable success rate these day for surgery to remove one's tongue from cheek.

In this respect, Leicester have been caught in the crossfire of a media construct which they’ve spent most of the season arguing against. Perpetual reference to fairytales has been met with "one game at time" soundbites, which arrived from the speaker’s mouth only after a key had been turned in their back first.

Leicester City vs. Swansea City, Sunday at 4:15 p.m BST 

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Vardy’s "slip" in the box against West Ham United last weekend, and subsequent slip of the tongue, could turn out to be this season’s Steven Gerrard moment against Chelsea two years ago. Is Vardy's suspension where it all starts to unravel for Leicester?

Gerrard’s most infamous of slips effectively cost Liverpool a first title in 24 years, and by his own admission, it still haunts him daily. Don’t worry, Jamie, it's only 132 years and counting for Leicester. If you don’t end up winning it, expect Richard III’s skeletal figure and Gary Lineker wearing just his underwear to knock at the door of your dreams nightly.

How Leicester cope in the absence of a player who has scored 22 of their 59 league goals, and not missed a game all season, will likely go a long way to deciding the title race.

Morgan, N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez all richly deserve their respective places in the PFA Team of the Season, but this is a Leicester side built around Vardy. Ranieri has formed his entire game plan all season around pressing from the front and playing on the counter-attack. It’s an approach he hasn’t deviated from, and as such, it’s hard to think Vardy’s absence won’t pose a conundrum of potentially gargantuan proportions.

If a fading and visibly shot Mahrez has one more big performance left in a season in which he is favourite to be crowned its best player at the PFA Awards, it needs to come on Sunday. Especially if, as widely anticipated, Vardy's ban is extended to include the following week's trip to an in-form Manchester United. 

It's safe to say the Algerian will benefit from his fellow professionals having voted at the end of last year, as opposed to at the end of the season. In 2015, he needed 112.6 minutes per goal and 209.1 per assist. This year those numbers drop to 413.7 per goal and 310.3 per assist (stats via Football365's Daniel Storey). If he were a horse, he'd be inside a tube of Pritt Stick by now.

The obvious solution to counter Vardy’s absence would be to promote Leonardo Ulloa from the substitutes’ bench. He has figured in 26 of Leicester’s 34 Premier League matches to date, scoring four times, including an injury-time penalty against West Ham last weekend to earn his side a point that had looked beyond them. If nothing else, he demonstrated he has the minerals to cope if called upon on Sunday.

All term he’s been the perfect squad player, as have Andy King and Jeffrey Schlupp. Where lesser men would groan at getting the nod to get stripped on 89 minutes, the Argentinian has demonstrated the enthusiasm of a fan plucked from the stands when charged with chasing down lost causes at the corner flag, and holding the ball up using a derriere that has its own postcode. He’s kept a smile on his face despite those 26 appearances seeing him clock up just 770 minutes of football.

It's very endearing, but the problem is Ulloa and Vardy could not be more different strikers. If the Argentinian were a whippet, he’d be caught by the lure. How do you play on the counter-attack without pace? You can’t.

This may not be such of an issue given Swansea City arrive at the King Power Stadium assured of their place in the Premier League for next season and likely to sit deep to invite crosses. Ulloa loves crosses more than a teacher that hates kids, so it could be a game that suits him to the ground.

The alternative to Ulloa would be to push Shinji Okazaki further forward, move Mahrez inside behind the Japanese forward and use Schlupp on the left.

A more left-field approach, which conversely would see Leicester stick to the tried-and-tested counter-attacking formula, would be to employ Demarai Gray as a direct replacement for Vardy.

The 19-year-old is in possession of a clean pair of heels and has shown a game intelligence in recent late cameos to suggest he has it in his makeup to adapt quickly, should he be employed more frequently in the run-in. Still, Sunday’s game would be quite the occasion to make a first-ever Premier League start.

Whatever Ranieri chooses to do in terms of his lineup, the manner of Swansea’s 3-0 defeat to Newcastle United in their last outing suggests more holiday brochures than a branch of Thompson’s will weigh down the coach en route to Leicester.

Anything less than three points would not so much open the door for Tottenham as leave it hanging off its hinges.

Tottenham vs. West Brom, Monday at 8 p.m BST

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Such has been the joie de vivre demonstrated by Tottenham in the run-in, it wouldn't be a surprise were they to take to the field at White Hart Lane on Monday night against West Bromwich Albion kitted out in a change Breton striped kit to the strains of "La Marseillaise."

The precociousness of youth is usually only applauded by those rich enough to slow down the ageing process by whatever means necessary, yet to watch Tottenham dismantle Stoke City last Monday, it was hard for even the most doleful of curmudgeons, of which I count myself, not to break out a smile. 

From back to front, Spurs were immaculate. It’s a struggle to think of a more complete performance all season. It’s a fair bet (365) Stoke’s players didn’t top any charts in terms of ground covered, but even still, it’s rare to see a side genuinely enjoy themselves as Tottenham did on the night. Let alone one embroiled in a title race. 

Upon Leicester dropping points against West Ham on Sunday, Harry Kane went a bit Game of Thrones when he posted on Instagram a photo of a pack of lions, without comment. It was done without malice, a young lad enjoying himself. It is this relaxed air that could see Spurs cross the finish post first if Leicester falter.

Kane’s brace against Stoke, his 23rd and 24th goals of the season, took him two ahead of Vardy in the race for the Golden Boot. It seems a long time ago that the first Englishman to break the 20-goal mark in two consecutive seasons since Alan Shearer started the campaign with just one goal in his first nine league appearances. He's not done bad since: 23 goals in 25 games have followed from the moment he got going with a hat-trick against Bournemouth in October. 

While Ranieri and his players must be tempted to reach for a calculator before and after each round of matches, for Mauricio Pochettino and his charges, it is more clear cut. Tottenham need to win all of their matches to stand a realistic chance of toppling Leicester. Results cannot be "decent"; they are simply good or bad. There's nothing to think about, other than winning.

As statements of intent go, Pochettino couldn’t have asked for anything more emphatic than the performance against Stoke. There was nothing circumspect about his assessment of his side's chances of catching Leicester post-match, per the Guardian's Stuart James:

"

The most important thing is the performance we showed today was perfect. It is a big signal we are there waiting and fighting.

We need to believe that (catching Leicester) is possible.

It is good for the competition that we are in behind to try and put pressure on Leicester.

I feel very proud. Our supporters were fantastic and they feel proud of us.

I think this an exciting moment for the club. In football all can happen and, if Leicester fail, we need to be there. We need to try and reduce the gap. This is our dream.

"

With the best defence in the league and freest scoring attack, few would bet against Tottenham doing their part. Indeed, few would argue against the notion Spurs have been the most entertaining side to watch since November.

As a neutral, whether that's enough to win your vote is for the privacy of the ballot booth. Just don't be swayed by an irritation at continual fairytale references. 

Leicester City deserve far more credit than that. 

 
Manchester City vs. Stoke City, Saturday at 12:45 p.m. BST 

Aston Villa vs. Southampton, Saturday at 3 p.m. BST 

Bournemouth vs. Chelsea, Saturday at 3 p.m. BST

 
Liverpool vs. Newcastle, Saturday at 3 p.m. BST  

Sunderland vs. Arsenal, Sunday at 2.05 p.m. BST