Big Match Breakdown: West Ham v Leicester
Published:
There could be plenty of goals
This weekend’s Premier League action gets underway with West Ham United hosting Leicester City on Friday night.
Both sides have recently appointed a new manager. Leicester have risen from 18th to 13th in the early stages of Claude Puel’s reign.
West Ham will be hoping for a similar improvement under David Moyes. They didn’t get off to the best start though, losing 2-0 to Watford in his first game in charge.
How will they get on tonight? The Coral News Team have all the lowdown ahead of kick-off…
Head to Head
Leicester have dominated recent meetings between the two clubs. They’ve won five of their last six games against West Ham. They’ve only lost once to the Hammers since returning to the top flight in 2014-15.
Claude Puel’s side are in better form too. They were unbeaten in six games before losing to league-leaders Manchester City last weekend. Even then, they performed much better against City than most sides this term.
West Ham’s loss to Watford saw the club drop into the relegation zone. They’re now five league games without a win.
Likely XIs
Javier Hernandez’s injury means Andy Carroll is likely to start as a lone striker for the home side. He’ll need to improve on his showing against Watford. He made his mark inside 30 seconds at Vicarage Road with an elbow on Marvin Zeegelaar, but didn’t offer much else.
Andre Ayew could also come in for the underwhelming Marko Arnautovic. The summer signing went off injured against Watford.
Leicester don’t have any fresh injury concerns. Puel could go with the same team that started against City.
Key Battles
West Ham’s midfield will have to work hard to protect a vulnerable backline. They also need to get Manuel Lanzini on the ball in dangerous areas. He’s their most creative player by some distance.
Leicester will look to exploit the flanks and get in behind.
Demarai Gray has repaid Claude Puel’s decision to select him with some excellent displays on the left. His speed could expose West Ham’s ageing right-back Pablo Zabaleta.
Match Odds
West Ham are 7/4 to get a much-needed victory. Leicester are slight 31/20 favourites and the Draw is 9/4.
Expect goals at the London Stadium. West Ham have conceded 25 league goals this season, the most in the division. Leicester are the top scorers outside the top eight (16 goals).
Jamie Vardy leads the way in the Goalscorer markets. He’s struck in two of his last three appearances against the Hammers. Vardy is 7/5 to score Anytime. He’s also 6/10 to have 1+ shots on target.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
