West Ham United return to the London Stadium following a big win as they take on Leicester City to steer further clear of relegation talk.
Graham Potter read the room at the Emirates and set out to frustrate Arsenal last Saturday whilst achieving the objective of a smash-and-grab victory. Jarrod Bowen’s goal at the end of the first half proved enough for West Ham United to take three precious points in North London to repeat their feat from last season as they get set to take on Leicester City up next.
Arsenal further handed the onus to West Ham after Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off for a tactical foul on Mohammed Kudus. The Hammers were on a run of four winless games, and that clash at the Emirates ended it to allow Potter’s side to steer further clear of the relegation zone, as they are now on 30 points, which opened a 13-point gap over 18th-placed Ipswich Town.
Furthermore, 17th-placed Wolves’ loss on Tuesday allowed the Hammers to retain an eight-point advantage over the Black Country outfit, having played a game less. Potter’s side will now welcome relegation-threatened Leicester City at the London Stadium, and West Ham will be eager to steer further clear of the danger zone, and even Wolves.
The idea to bring Ruud van Nistelrooy did feel like a good choice to make as they chose the Dutchman to replace Steve Cooper. The former Manchester United coach did start with a 3-1 win over the next opponent, West Ham. But since then, things have gone downhill pretty fast.
In the 12 games since, Leicester City have won just once, which came away at Tottenham, and were on a seven-game losing run heading to North London. Since that win, they have lost their subsequent three games, with Brentford being the latest to hammer them with a 4-0 scoreline at the weekend.
The mood at the King Power Stadium is rather gloomy at the moment, and that has not helped in any shape or form to inspire the team to do better. Leicester City are still within distance of helping themselves out of the relegation zone, but that would still need some positive results, particularly wins, and van Nistelrooy will hope to gain one at the London Stadium on Wednesday night.
Team News & Tactics
West Ham United
Graham Potter does not have any fresh injury concerns since the win over Arsenal on Saturday, meaning he will have a similar squad to select from for the Leicester City clash. While he set up in a more pragmatic way to stifle the Gunners, the West Ham United boss will likely switch to an attacking formation to face Leicester City.
On the injury front, Lucas Paqueta and Vladimir Coufal are ruled out of the Leicester City game, with Potter hopeful of having them around March 10 for their next Premier League game against Newcastle United. Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug are out for the foreseeable future, while long-term absentee Michail Antonio continues to recover from a horrific road accident.
Potter will revert to a back-four for the Leicester City clash, with Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo keeping their central spots, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Ollie Scarles are preferred in the full-back roles.
Potter could continue with the midfield trio of Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez operating either side of James Ward-Prowse, while he might make a tweak in the attacking setup. Evan Ferguson could be handed a start to lead the line for West Ham against Leicester City, allowing Bowen to operate from his preferred right-wing position, while Kudus will operate from the left wing.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Scarles; Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Alvarez; Bowen, Ferguson, Kudus
Leicester City
There are no fresh injury concerns for Ruud van Nistelrooy ahead of this trip to London, as Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and Ricardo Pereira are the only confirmed absentees. There are considerable doubts about James Justin’s fitness following an ankle problem picked up during the loss to Arsenal. The full-back will be assessed before kick-off ahead of van Nistelrooy making his decision.
In any case, January signing Woyo Coulibaly will be ready to deputise for Justin if required, and as things stand, that might be the case. Ruud van Nistelrooy will likely select a different attacking setup for this one while retaining the midfield pairing of Boubakary Soumare and Wilfred Ndidi.
Stephy Mavididi and Facundo Bounanotte are expected to replace Bobby De Cordova Reid and Jordan Ayew in the wide areas. Bilal El Khannouss will continue to operate behind veteran striker Jamie Vardy.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Coulibaly, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Soumare; Buonanotte, El-Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy
Key Stats
- West Ham United have won eight of their last nine home games against promoted sides in the Premier League. The Hammers have lost only one of their last 14 matches against promoted sides overall in the Premier League.
- Leicester City have one win in their last 12 Premier League games. The Foxes have lost 10 of their last 11 Premier League games (W1), including each of their last three by an aggregate score of 10-0. They have not lost more successive league matches while also failing to score in each since a run of five from January to February 2017, in what would prove to be title-winning manager Claudio Ranieri’s final five league matches in charge of the club.
- Leicester City have conceded at least two goals in 11 of their last 12 matches in the Premier League.
- West Ham have lost their last two Premier League home games under Graham Potter, having already lost three in a row at the London Stadium under Julen Lopetegui earlier this term. They have never had two separate runs of 3+ consecutive home defeats in the same league season before.
- Leicester are the only side without an away clean sheet in the Premier League thus far this season, conceding 32 goals in their 12 games on the road this term.
Player to Watch
Jarrod Bowen
The West Ham United star man returned to form against Arsenal, scoring the game’s only goal to secure a hard-fought three points for his team. It is imperative for Graham Potter to have Bowen in top form ahead of a crucial few games as the Hammers further steer themselves away from any talk of relegation, which will be on the manager’s mind.
Either way, Bowen has been a hit and a miss all season, and the result against Arsenal will be a big boost for him. He will want to either replicate that or perform better against relegation-threatened Leicester City, as the Hammers generally do well against promoted sides visiting the London Stadium.
Prediction
West Ham United 3-0 Leicester City
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side are in a terrible state of form, and that might continue when Leicester City visit the London Stadium. While the Foxes have not found a solution to stop teams from scoring with alarming regularity, the relegation-threatened side is not able to find a way past defences either.
Meanwhile Graham Potter’s men are aiming to make use of their momentum from the victory over Arsenal and put a decent run of good games ahead. Fortunately, they are now meeting an out-of-form Leicester City, and the Hammers are expected to make good work of their opponents, as the home team will score plenty and keep a clean sheet at the London Stadium.
