In recent years, Ledley King has suffered greatly with a troublesome knee that has limited him to just four appearances last term and only 24 the year before that.
But when King does feature for Tottenham, his influence cannot be understated and his side’s chance of winning increases dramatically.
In the last four seasons, the North London side have won at least 50% of all the Premier League games he has featured in, considerably more than when he has been absent.
| Tottenham Win % with and without Ledley King |
|
|
| Season |
With King |
Without King |
| 2008/09 |
56% |
0% |
| 2007/08 |
50% |
26% |
| 2006/07 |
52% |
35% |
| 2005/06 |
50% |
42% |
| Opta Index |
And this season the Lilywhites have not won a single league game when the 28-year-old has not played, a worrying fact for Harry Redknapp, who admits King’s knee injury “is a massive problem.”
With Saturday's live Setanta game against Manchester United coming up, Redknapp will be hoping he can manage a second game in a week.
“It is doubtful he will figure against Manchester United. I have to be careful with him - if he does play two games in a week and his knee blows up he could be out for a long time,” said Redknapp.
Spurs’ defence is much tighter with King at the back, when he has played this season they have conceded 0.89 goals on average, compared to 1.86 when he has been missing.
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