Leicester 4-1 Tottenham: Spurs slump to heavy defeat at King Power Stadium on Antonio Conte return

Antonio Conte's return to the sidelines after gallbladder surgery ended in miserable fashion as Tottenham were thrashed 4-1 at Leicester City.

Spurs took the lead in the 14th minute when Ivan Perisic's corner was turned in from close range by Rodrigo Bentancur, but from this point onwards the home side were far better and not flattered by the result.

Nampalys Mendy levelled the game with a thunderbolt strike from just inside the area midway through the half and two minutes later Kelechi Iheanacho set up James Maddison to put the Foxes in front.

On the stroke of half time, Iheanacho curled a low effort home past stand-in goalkeeper Fraser Forster from the edge of the area.

Harvey Barnes was unlucky not to score a deserved goal 20 minutes from time when VAR ruled he was a fraction offside latching onto another Iheanacho through-ball but 11 minutes later he was on the scoresheet when, similarly to Iheanacho earlier, used Eric Dier as a shield and placed the ball inside the corner from 20 yards out.

Spurs remain in fifth spot, while Leicester jump to 13th.

Conte's defence will cost him job - Antonio Conte has attracted most criticism for failing to play the attacking football which the club's supporters expect as a given with Harry Kane and Hueng-min Son leading their attack.

However, it is his failure to forge a sound defence which will likely lead to him not managing the club beyond this summer though. His sides have never been water-tight averaging a goal a game through his career with top sides in the Premier League and Serie A. This year Spurs are shipping an average of half a goal more than this. Previously, he has been able to forge strong defences which were stronger than the sum of their parts, such as at Chelsea side where they won the title with Victor Moses at right wing back and in the year John Terry's athleticism fell off a cliff.

Ben Davies and Eric Dier are not players you would handpick to play in a back three in a top side.

Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City) - The way Mendy covers ground and stops other sides breaking against Leicester while keeping the ball sensibly in possession does bring back memories of maybe the player who played the best ever season in a Leicester shirt. It is difficult to remember Ngolo Kante smashing home a goal like Mendy did here though. He looks to be a very exciting part of the new team Brendan Rodgers is forging.

Leicester: Ward 6; Castagne 6, Souttar 7, Faes 7, Kristiansen 7; Mendy 9*, Dewsbury-Hall 7; Tete 6, Maddison 8, Barnes 8; Iheanacho 8.

Subs: Ndidi 6, Vardy 6, Praet 6, Pereira 6.

Tottenham: Forster 6; Tanganga 5, Dier 5, Davies 5; Pedro Porro 4, Bentancur 6, Hojbjerg 6, Perisic 6; Kulusevski 5, Son 6, Kane 6.

Subs: Sarr 6, Richarlison 6, Emerson 6, Sanchez 6, Danjuma 6.

14' GOAL FOR TOTTENHAM! A second corner from Perisic causes havoc in the Foxes six-yard box and this time Kristensen's clearance comes back off Bentancur and goes into the net.

23' GOAL FOR LEICESTER! A lovely strike from Mendy. A corner was cleared to the edge of the area where the midfielder struck an arrow inside the top corner leaving Forster with no chance.

25' GOAL FOR LEICESTER! Maddison makes it two after Iheanacho squared the ball to him inside the box. A long pass from Davies to Kane's feet was won with a sliding challenge from Faes which gave the ball to Iheanacho 25 yards from goal and he put the ball on a plate for the England midfielder who made no mistake.

45+4' GOAL FOR LEICESTER! Iheanacho curls a brilliant low curling strike from the edge of the box to double Leicester's lead.

70' GOAL FOR LEICESTER! Barnes has the goal he deserves. A fantastic performance from him today and here Iheanacho beat one defender and drew another before slipping in the winger who slips the ball past Forster.

72' GOAL RULED OUT! That seems so unfair. A brilliant goal and millimetres in the decision.

81' GOAL FOR LEICESTER! Barnes has scored a fourth. And this one won't be disallowed. He finds himself in the middle of the goal and using Dier as a screen places the ball inside the corner of Forster's goal.