By Goal.com News on Saturday, 02 January 2021
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: Tottenham vs Leeds

Toby Alderweireld's close-range header is the icing on the cake as Tottenham get back to winning ways in 2021 against a frustrated Leeds. Harry Kane and Son Heung-min help guide Spurs back to the top four; the visitors are left with one of those days. At full-time in the Premier League, it finishes Tottenham 3-0 Leeds United.

90' + 4' FULL-TIME: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3-0 LEEDS UNITED

90' + 2' Spurs are going to finish this game a man down though; Doherty crashes into Hernandez and picks up a second yellow, seeing him sent off for a second bookable offence. He'll be suspended too.

90' There are three added minutes incoming at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

88' A concern for Leeds now as Dallas needs treatment after a Moura challenge. Marcelo Bielsa was barking somewhere at his bench. The Argentine can't afford any more injured defenders.

83' Hojbjerg skews a wide effort down one end, as Tottenham incur deep for the first time in a while, and Leeds promptly counter through Phillips and Hernandez, ending in a Bamford finish pushed to Lloris.

81' Raphinha skims a low, if soft effort in now and Lloris is untroubled by it. Leeds have been pushing consistently for a response in the last 10 minutes, to absolutely no avail.

80' Hernandez and Poveda combine without the finish they want on the edge of the Tottenham box. It's a familiar story from Bielsa's tenure; plenty of ball and limited returns in the final third.

74' Hernandez clips a shot in from outside the box and wins a corner. Phillips looks to have headed it over but the referee hands a second set-piece, believing Dier had the last touch. Hernandez shoots again from it - and another deflection hands a third corner.

72' Kane attempts an ambitious finish from inside his own half after catching Meslier off his line and his effort isn't too far off the mark, just sailing a few feet over the crossbar.

70' Poveda wins a corner off Davies after trying to locate Bamford with a cross. Kane heads Phillips' delivery away with nonchalant ease and then helps to clear Leeds' follow-up press.

68' Leeds deal with the set-piece this time and muscle their way back downfield. Dallas miscues a potential volley and Doherty clears Phillips' looming cross. Tottenham are determined to keep a clean sheet here.

66' Half-chances at both ends now as Poveda, Shackleton and Hernandez all combine off the bench, before Kane sees a counter tipped away by Meslier for a corner.

62' Bergwijn and then Winks both have cracks at goal in quick succession, the former seeing his shot parried by Meslier and the latter skying it from distance. Spurs are not putting the cue on the rack.

59' Leeds sustain some skilled pressure for little gain on the Tottenham box now, with the eventual cross from Dallas soaring well over Bamford's head. The visitors are leaving themselves wide open at the back.

57' Son! It should be 4-0 for the hosts, with the Korean bearing down on Meslier - but he unselfishly attempts to cut it back for Hojbjerg and Leeds are able to see it away with a nifty interception.

55' Don't expect Leeds to change despite being three goals down and theoretically buried here. They didn't against Manchester United in a 6-2 defeat - though that was a different kind of game entirely.

52' Kane! Almost a fourth for Tottenham after the England skipper smashes an effort into the side netting on the left edge. In his technical area, Marcelo Bielsa falls out of his usual crouch and recovers with stylish aplomb.

49' Ndombele! Leeds switch off at the back when Spurs take a quick free-kick in midfield and Meslier makes a great stop to deflect the low shot, seeing it trickle around the outside of his left post.

48' Leeds peel back to see off a Spurs counter through Phillips and the England man is then fouled by Doherty as they counter themselves. A quick tap and delivery into the box is seized by Lloris.

47' The visitors pepper a few early balls into the Spurs box and the clearances are less than exemplary. Still, Tottenham weather the early incursion without a serious threat to their goal.

46' We're back underway for the second half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Will the hosts see this one out for a first win in five or can Leeds find a way to salvage a result?

Need any further proof of the imbalance of this game? Leeds are two goals down with almost twice as much possession. But you write off Marcelo Bielsa at your peril. Jose Mourinho will be satisfied there.

It's the Kane and Son show once more for Tottenham, as they head into the break at home with a healthy lead against Leeds. The former helped them in front with a penalty against the run of play - then supplied his partner with a cool finish close to the interval. Plenty of life in this one yet; at half-time, it is Tottenham 2-0 Leeds.

45' + 1' HALF-TIME: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2-0 LEEDS UNITED

45' Davies! The Tottenham defender pushes an effort wide of the post as we enter the one minute of added time here.

41' Harrison! It is the closest Leeds have been so far, as the midfielder bends a powerful shot just over the crossbar by a matter of inches, played into the D by Klich. Excellent from the visitors.

40' Alioski attempts to slam a volley in from the edge of the Tottenham box now and miscues the angle by a particularly spectacular margin. Leeds would like something to show for this first half.

38' Dier proves sharp enough to offset a ball skewed in for Bamford near the edge of Spurs' six-yard area now, the England man getting enough contact to deny the striker a shot on goal.

36' Concerns for Tottenham here; Kane is on his haunches clutching his knee and Son is perched on the turf, looking particularly ginger. A loss of either would be a blow but they seem fine to continue.

35' Bergwijn! Leeds leave their underbelly open as Davies brings a soaring long cross to earth on the left and cuts it back for his teammate - who promptly skies a finish into orbit from eight yards out.

34' Rodrigo! Klich plays the lovely flick and the Spaniard tries to pull his shot around Dier. He does so, but in the process squeezes himself out and Lloris has an easy save.

33' A close mix-up at the back from Tottenham sees Davies almost take Lloris' head off as he hurriedly clears a delivery that Bamford was eyeing up hungrily. A half-chance for Leeds.

31' A free-kick falls for Spurs on the right edge and the hosts have a clutch of chances, with Hojbjerg, Alderweireld and Kane all honing in on half-chances before the latter puts it out for a goal-kick.

30' There's nothing to be said other than frustration for Leeds there. They've imposed themselves on this game far more than their hosts have today but they haven't found an early blow of their own.

28' Penalty to Tottenham! It's Alioski, who has had such a sharp game so far, who brings down Bergwijn with leg contact on the edge of the box after Meslier plays out a ropey delivery.

26' Phillips teases Dallas forward on the right but the latter's square delivery is cleared by Hojbjerg. Leeds had seven players in that Tottenham penalty area as that ball came in.

25' Kane carves his way into the Leeds box, holds off Dallas and gets two bites of the cherry before Alioski blasts away his cut-back. Still no goals to show in this game with a quarter gone.

24' This is Tottenham's 26th match of the season, compared to Leeds' 18th. Such a gulf may not tell today but it surely will throughout the rest of the season.

22' Bamford! A potential gilt-edged chance for the striker who climbs over Alderweireld and blasts a header looping over the crossbar. The former is facing his old Chelsea boss in Mourinho today.

21' Better from Tottenham; while Son's delivery beats all, Kane wrestles it back before it can skip out and tees up Hojbjerg for a neat effort, albeit one drilled straight to Meslier.

20' Rodrigo can be a little susceptible to tracking back defensively and so it tells now as he concedes a soft foul for a push on Hojbjerg on the left flank, in line with Leeds' penalty area.

18' There are some wayward deliveries at the back from Leeds as they try to play out today, and a few have been filched by Spurs all too easily. It's all part of the Marcelo Bielsa package though.

17' Raphinha trips Davies out on the Tottenham man's left flank and Son has the chance to loft a set-piece delivery into the box. Leeds fail to clear and Kane ultimately smashes a finish over the bar.

15' Ndombele threads a delicious throughball for Bergwijn that Meslier does exceptionally well to poach on the edge of his box in time. Tottenham are growing in confidence after a quarter-hour.

13' Leeds are throwing fabulous breaks around like cut-price raffle tickets. Rodrigo and Bamford combine with a sweeping cross and a cut-back, and the latter's finish is a soft tap to Lloris.

12' Tottenham piece together their most dangerous move of the game now, a one-two with Bergwijn and Son that sees Leeds muscle the final ball out for a corner, which Meslier claims comfortably.

10' Harrison again is at the heart of a length-of-the-field counter propelled by Alioski and Doherty does enough to ensure that a cut-back volley to Klich is sprayed over the bar under pressure.

9' Rodrigo sweeps the ball out to Harrison on the left and the Manchester City loanee glances a cross back into the box that Raphinha and Bamford both get very close.

8' It's a crisp, cold January afternoon in north London today - hello 2021! - as Bamford is flagged offside heading down the right flank. Winter is in the air, if not quite on the ground.

6' Much is often made of Leeds' fluency in attack but it is arguable that their flexibility sometimes goes under-reported. They're missing some key bodies today but have found curious stopgaps.

4' Alioski! Leeds illustrate their transitional place early on, with Klich feeding the North Macedonia international in on the left edge of the box, where he wrestles a shot into the near-side netting.

3' This has the makings of a entertaining clash on paper. Mourinho and Bielsa are arguably the two most idiosyncratic tacticians in the Premier League and - if on song - they could serve up a storm.

1' We are underway in this Premier League clash between Tottenham and Leeds United!

The teams have emerged at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and we're moments away from kick-off. David Coote is today's referee.

It's just under eight years since these two sides last met, when Leeds delivered a 2-1 upset in the FA Cup fourth round thanks to goals from Ross McCormack and Luke Varney. There's no matchday survivors, though Bale did start back then for Spurs.

That hectic campaign so far means Gareth Bale is conspicuously absent for the Whites' visit. The Wales international is not the only countryman AWOL however; Leeds are lacking his occasional strike partner Tyler Roberts too.

That pandemic-enforced postponement with Fulham is the last thing Tottenham need in a jam-packed schedule. They have an EFL Cup semi-final with Brentford looming, plus FA Cup and Europa League commitments. They're pretty much wall-to-wall right now.

Subs: Ian Poveda, Kiko Casilla, Helder Costa, Pablo Hernandez, Charlie Cresswell, Jamie Shackleton, Jack Jenkins, Oliver Casey, Niall Huggins.

LEEDS UNITED (4-1-4-1): Illan Meslier; Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling, Pascal Struijk, Ezgjan Alioski; Kalvin Phillips; Raphinha, Rodrigo, Mateusz Klich, Jack Harrison; Patrick Bamford.

Subs: Sergio Reguilon, Joe Hart, Joe Rodon, Moussa Sissoko, Dele Alli, Japhet Tanganga, Lucas Moura, Gedson Fernandes, Carlos Vinicius.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-2-3-1): Hugo Lloris; Matt Doherty, Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier, Ben Davies; Harry Winks, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg; Steven Bergwijn, Tanguy Ndombele, Son Heung-min; Harry Kane.

Toby Alderweireld and Steven Bergwijn are the two new faces for the hosts following their draw with Wolves last time out. Unsurprisingly, the visitors make no change after robustly hammering West Brom.

But it has been a week of difficult off-field fortunes for both. Spurs were left in the lurch at short notice thanks to Fulham's last-hour Covid-19 cancellation and Leeds have been under fire for triggering a social media storm. They'll want to do their talking on the pitch today.

Marcelo Bielsa's Whites have emerged as the neutral's favourite this term for their all-or-nothing approach to games - and three wins in their last four has set them well on their way to avoiding a possible relegation battle.

Early pacesetters across the first quarter of the campaign, Jose Mourinho's Spurs have ground to a shuddering halt, with two points taken from their last possible 12. Today is a must-win for their silverware hopes.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2020-21 Premier League season as Tottenham look to reignite their spluttering title tilt against Leeds United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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