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.
Match preview
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.
As 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.
However, the 2015-16 Premier League winners ultimately survived that late scare to pip Leeds United and Ipswich Town to the crown, finishing with 97 points on the board to jump back up to the big time at the first time of asking, before swapping Maresca with ex-Nottingham Forest boss Cooper.
Like Postecoglou, the Leicester coach also oversaw a strong start to pre-season - wins over Villarreal and Shrewsbury Town - before three straight losses to Palermo, Augsburg and Lens, and the threat of a potential points deduction for alleged financial breaches is also a highly unwelcome distraction.
Leicester are not expected to learn their possible punishment fate until 2025, though, and full focus now turns to Monday's reunion with Tottenham, whom they memorably demolished 4-1 at the King Power during their most recent showdown in February 2023.
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Team News
Tottenham boss Postecoglou has been laying down the law in pre-season, suspending midfielder Yves Bissouma for Monday's game after the Mali international recently filmed himself inhaling laughing gas.
Fraser Forster (foot) and Richarlison (calf) are on the touch-and-go list, but the latter has now been bumped down the pecking order by £65m arrival Dominic Solanke, who should be in line for his full Lilywhites debut on Monday night.
No Tottenham debutant since Steven Bergwijn in 2020 has netted on their first Premier League appearance for the club, while long-serving captain Son Heung-min has 13 direct involvements from 14 previous meetings with Leicester, nine of his own and four assists.
Sticking with the attacking theme, Leicester have already been dealt a devastating injury blow up front, as Patson Daka has undergone surgery for a serious ankle injury - which he sustained in the loss to Lens - and is facing a few months on the sidelines.
Jamie Vardy - a tormentor of Big Six sides during his Premier League prime - is also still on the mend from a pre-season knock, while Conor Coady (hamstring) misses out too, and Luke Thomas will require a last-minute fitness test.
With neither Daka nor Vardy available, Leicester should turn to either Tom Cannon or Stephy Mavididi to fill the void up top, while Harry Winks should be a nailed-on starter against his old club in the middle.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Winks, Ndidi, Soumare; Reid, Mavididi, Fatawu
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Solanke
What have the managers said?
Leicester boss Steve Cooper
"I've had a few pre-seasons now and I've gone into some of them feeling full of confidence and then maybe haven't had the start that I thought we would get, and I've had the opposite as well where we haven't got to levels in pre-season but started the season much better than what I thought.
"You never quite know until the game starts. What I do know is that the guys did amazing last year in terms of bouncing back by winning the league and getting back to the Premier League. They're really looking forward to applying their work now in the Premier League.
"We're trying to contribute to what the guys did last year with a stronger team and squad for the Premier League. Everybody is working hard to get to where we want to be, some things haven't gone our way.
"If we can add to what is already good at the club and support them, then that's what we'll be hoping to do. Every season you want to reinforce, you want to strengthen when you come up from the Championship, you want to change – every club will be the same. We're no different and we're still going through that process, but the Club is working together.
"We really believe in the guys that are here. We're giving them everything. They feel good and let's hope we can take that good feeling and good work into the new season. There's a real excitement and good vibe about being back in the league and for us that's the headline of our thoughts.
"There's also a strong motivation to show their worth again and I guess that's the feeling around the club, including myself. We need to channel all that now into Monday night and onwards from there.
"We're really just focusing on Monday night because that's the only thing that we can influence. That's where our concentration and motivation is. There's a real positive vibe around the training ground.
"I can't wait to get back. It's always club first but the Premier League is a brilliant place to be. I missed it, there's no doubt about that. It's an exciting challenge, a good challenge and it's been a good pre-season while transitioning into becoming a Premier League team, so we're really looking forward to continuing that challenge with the next step of the season starting.
"This is a hard-working and together group of players, which is natural and normal after a successful season. We very much want to keep a lot of that going, while balancing the challenge of the Premier League and what might need to change and adapt, because obviously it's completely different.
"The step up is a huge one. We've got a nice mixture of some guys who have been there before and have come back to the Premier League, and players who are going into it for the first time and that adds a nice variety of personal motivation, linked to the team objectives.
"That's always the case, there's always a point to prove and a goal to strive for. It's good for each other to understand their stories as well because that's how you become a team and have each other's backs. Everything has been gearing to being ready, but time will tell.
"It's not the perfect situation in terms of no.9s going into this game, but we have to find a solution and the right strategy for the gameplan to make sure that we can be a threat against Spurs on Monday.
"We've got to believe in our own way and the things that we're doing and that they can have a massive impact on the game, including the top end of the pitch and creating and scoring goals.
"That just isn't the striker, they can be the focal point, but it's how you get it there and other guys at the top end of the pitch. We've got enough players who are more than capable of making it happen. Let's hope we can make the right plan to get the most out of them.
"Obviously, Spurs are a really good team and play in a really defined way with some positions on the pitch that are really fixed and some which are really fluid. We're fully aware of that and we've got to make sure we'll be ready for that.
"We're at home, it's the first game of the season, we've worked incredibly hard to get back into the league and continued that through pre-season, so we really want to be focused on what we can do to have the right impact on the game and that's where our focus is.
"Of course, Spurs have got some brilliant players and a really good manager, but that's going to be the case every single week in the Premier League. You have to understand what the opponent does but that can never outweigh what you want to do yourself. That's exactly where our mindset is."
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou
"I expect what I expect all the time - to do my job and see what that brings. I'd suggest it's not by accident [that my clubs win trophies in my second season]. We'll improve and see where that takes.
"What the end of last year showed is that we're still not rock solid in having a real belief in what we're trying to do. That's only natural. It's not unusual in my first year that it takes time for these things to become truly embedded and you've got to go through some tough times to reveal those things because if you don't go through tough times, how do you really know?
"It's not like I never felt the group were totally all in on what we were trying to do, it's just that it's still up to me to lead them through that. I think we're still in that phase. I'm still going to be the major driver in becoming the team we want to be. That's OK, that's part of the process.
"I feel we're better prepared. The players are better prepared, even mentally in knowing what we have to tackle this year and how we're going to tackle it if we go through difficult times, which we invariably will because every team does. Hopefully going through what we did last year means that we don't have such a big disparity between our best and our worst."
We say: Leicester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
As Leicester are lacking two of their principle goal threats and failed to score in their last three matches of pre-season, those backing a Tottenham clean sheet should be left with a smile on their face come full time.
The Lilywhites were not exactly solid at the back in pre-season either, but Postecoglou's men have a taste for goals and should subject their hosts to a harsh welcome back to the Premier League.
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