Tottenham vs Leicester LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction as Son Heung-min hits hat-trick

Antonio Conte’s side move joint-top as Brendan Rodgers faces up to a run of six straight defeats

Table unfair on Leicester - Conte

Son Heung-min ended his scoring drought in stunning fashion with a sublime hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur crushed Leicester City 6-2 to move joint top of the Premier League on Saturday.

Rodrigo Bentancur’s first goal for Tottenham was separating the sides in an entertaining tussle but Son, who started on the bench, exploded back to form with three goals in 13 minutes.

The South Korean, the Premier League’s joint-top scorer last season, had not scored in Tottenham’s first eight games.

Leicester took an early lead with a twice-taken penalty by Youri Tielemans but Tottenham hit back quickly with Harry Kane powering in a header at the far post.

Tottenham went ahead in the 21st minute as defender Eric Dier marked his return to the England squad with a glancing header from a corner.

Bottom-placed Leicester were lively in attack though and James Maddison’s superb finish sent them in level at halftime.

Bentancur seized on a mistake to restore Tottenham’s lead in the 47th minute but Son went on to steal the show.

After coming on in the 59th minute, he curled an unstoppable right-footer into the top corner in the 73rd minute, then curled a left-footer into the opposite side 11 minutes later.

Son then completed his hat-trick after running on to a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg through ball.

Tottenham vs Leicester

• 86’ GOAL! Son Heung-min completes his hat-trick, 6-2
• 84’ GOAL! It’s a double for Son who curls in a lovely left-footed effort, 5-2
• 73’ GOAL! Son comes off the bench and scores his first goal of the season with a powerful strike, 4-2
• 47’ GOAL! Bentancur opens his Spurs account shortly after the restart, 3-2
• 41’ GOAL! Maddison adds a second for Leicester to bring them level before half-time, 2-2
• 21’ GOAL! Dier sends Spurs in front with a headed finish from a corner, 2-1
• 9’ GOAL! Kane with a powerful header at the back post brings Spurs level, 1-1
• 6’ GOAL! Tielemans scores a retaken penalty to hand the Foxes the lead, 0-1
• Tottenham: Lloris, Sanchez, Dier, Lenglet, Perisic, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Sessegnon, Kulusevski, Richarlison, Kane
• Leicester: Ward, Castagne, Faes, Evans, Justin, Ndidi, Maddison, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Barnes, Daka

[17 September 2022 16:07 · Michael Jones]

Leicester’s recent results

Leicester are the surprise team of the year but that is because of how poor they’ve been in the campaign so far. They drew their first game of the season 2-2 with Brentford but have since lost five Premier League games on the bounce.

Arsenal, Southampton, Chelsea, Manchester United and most recently Brighton have all swept the Foxes aside leaving them bottom of the table with no wins from their first six games.

The Brighton result was a particular low-point as the Seagulls put five past Leicester - in a 5-2 win - despite Kelechi Iheanacho opening the scoring in the first minute.

Manager Brendan Rodgers is under serious pressure but can ease that burden with a win against Tottenham tonight.

[17 September 2022 16:01 · Michael Jones]

Tottenham's recent results

Antonio Conte’s men are looking to get back to winning ways after slipping to a 2-0 defeat to Sporting CP in the Champions League during the week. That loss looked to be a safely secured draw but late goals - both game in stoppage time of the second half - left Spurs wondering how things had gone wrong.

It’s better news in the Premier League. The London club are unbeaten this campaign with four wins and two draws from their first six games.

They’ve scored 12 goals and conceded just five leaving them third in the table and with the opportunity to draw level with Manchester City this evening.

[17 September 2022 15:55 · Michael Jones]

Antonio Conte says Son Heung-min is ‘never a problem’ despite anger at goal drought

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has acknowledged Son Heung-min is “angry” and lacking confidence, but backed him to do what top players do and overcome his goal drought.

The Spurs forward saw his poor start to the new season continue in midweek after he produced another blank in the 2-0 loss away to Sporting Lisbon.

It means Son has now gone eight games without a goal, having finished the previous campaign as the joint Golden Boot winner in the Premier League alongside Mohamed Salah.

Boss Conte appears to have a decision to make over whether he keeps the 30-year-old in the starting line-up against an out-of-form opponent in the shape of Saturday’s visitors Leicester or give him a well-overdue rest.

[17 September 2022 15:43 · Michael Jones]

Tottenham vs Leicester early team news

Lucas Moura is still absent for Tottenham as he continues to recover from a calf issue but Antonio Conte has no new injury concerns and can choose from an almost full squad.

The big debate is which two of Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison will start on either side of Harry Kane after Conte said on Thursday "no players are undroppable".

For Leicester, Dennis Praet has a foot problem so misses out with Ricardo Pereira and Ryan Bertrand remaining on the sidelines.

[17 September 2022 15:31 · Michael Jones]

Tottenham vs Leicester

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of Tottenham vs Leicester as the two clubs go head-to-head in the Premier League.

Spurs come into the game sitting third in the table behind league leaders Manchester City and Arsenal. If Antonio Conte’s men pick up three points against the Foxes, Tottenham will move above the Gunners and draw level on points with City although Arsenal are yet to play this week.

Meanwhile, Leicester are rock bottom and manager Brendan Rodgers is under pressure to turn things around. They have lost their last five league games and are yet to record a win this season with a 2-2 draw against Brentford on the opening weekend the only time they’ve collected points.

On paper, Tottenham are the big favourites to win this evening but Leicester have been massively underperforming and could potentially cause an upset if they turn around their form.