Leicester City have the opportunity to turn the screws on both Chelsea and Manchester United in the race for Champions League spots Sunday, but opportunity comes in the form of a tricky challenge at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Foxes (18-8-10) are fourth in the table on 62 points, ahead of United on goal difference and one point back of Chelsea. Those teams are playing each other Sunday in the FA Cup semifinals at Wembley, and Chelsea have a difficult run-in at champions Liverpool and home to Wolves – who are fighting for European places.
United will host West Ham midweek, and if both Leicester City and the Red Devils win their matches, it would set up a mouth-watering showdown in the Midlands next Sunday in which the winners are all but assured of a Champions League spot pending the outcome of the resumption of the Europa League.
After a 45-minute horror show at Bournemouth last weekend, Brendan Rodgers' side delivered a needed response to right themselves Thursday, repelling Sheffield United 2-0 to end the promoted side's dreams of Champions League play while securing play on the European continent for themselves for the first time in four years.
Going with a three-man back -- anchored by talisman Wes Morgan and teenage debutant Luke Thomas to his left – Leicester looked the side who powered their way to the top of the table in the early part of the season instead of the one who has struggled to stay there at times in Project Restart. Ayoze Perez and Demarai Gray scored on either side of halftime, and the scoreline did not reflect the dominance the Foxes displayed throughout the contest.
"It was our first 90-minute performance since we came back. We've played well in other spells in games, but we had to play well over the course of 90 minutes," Rodgers told LCFC TV. "The players showed incredible quality, they battled when they had to. Sheffield United test you physically and that's okay because when we're at our best, we're physically strong and aggressive.
"We showed all of that. I thought our football was very good, we played the shape really well. We scored two goals and with a better pass or finish, we could have had another two or three, so it was an outstanding team performance and a great result for us."
Rodgers said he will stick with this same XI, which is almost out of necessity since playmaker James Maddison and first-choice wide backs Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira are done for the season through injuries. He also will again be without centre back Caglar Soyuncu, who is serving a three-match ban for succumbing to the red mist versus Bournemouth.
Rodgers' counterpart Jose Mourinho is no stranger to European play, and Spurs (15-10-11) could wind up joining Leicester City in the second-tier club tournament depending on results over the final two matchdays. The Lilywhites are seventh in the table on 55 points and part of a five-team scrum that could see three teams through to the Europa League depending on FA Cup results.
Tottenham are unbeaten in their last four (3-1-0) after sweeping aside Newcastle United 3-1 at St James' Park on Wednesday. Harry Kane snapped a tie with a goal on the hour and completed a brace in stoppage time to secure all three points for Spurs, and Mourinho sees his side's late surge as a building block to get into the Champions League for 2021-22.
"The numbers, they tell a lot. We would be in a Champions League position (if the league started when Jose took over)," Mourinho said at his Saturday press conference. "The numbers tell us clearly. I don't believe next season we are going to have similar problems to this season. I think that's impossible. To have these positive feelings about the way the team is playing, the way the team is competing, is also very important, to transfer something that you bring from this season into the beginning of next season.
"So, yes, I'm very optimistic for next season, and I think the players are too. But, we've two matches to play and two matches to win if we want to qualify for Europe."
Even with a season cut short by injuries, Kane has produced with 21 goals in 32 matches across all competitions. The England talisman has four goals in seven contests during Project Restart and been a terror to Leicester City backlines with eight goals in the last five league meetings, highlighted by a four-goal effort in the Midlands in 2017 and a brace at Wembley the following year.
Kane did score in the reverse fixture at King Power Stadium in September, but Pereira and Maddison struck in the second half to rally Leicester City to a 2-1 victory. The Foxes have not done a Premier League double over Tottenham since 1998-99.