Match Preview – HAMMERS TIME

This weeks fan match preview is brought to you by SIMON MACK, who takes a preview of a key match which will hopefully see Leicester get back on the road to the Champions League…

Leicester City vs West Ham United

Wednesday 22^nd January 2020 7:30pm

King Power Stadium

The foxes have an early chance to halt their slump in form in the Premier League with a Wednesday evening match up under the King Power Stadium lights against 16^th placed West Ham United.

These two sides met not so long ago during a hectic festive period and the 2-1 victory for city marked the end of hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini’s reign as the East London outfit’s manager. Wide man Demari Gray scored the winner in a much changed foxes starting eleven that saw Kelechi Iheanacho bag the opener and Pellegrini’s subsequent exit paved the way for former West Ham gaffer David Moyes to retake the reigns.

Since Moye’s appointment the hammers fortunes have continued to be mixed and over the weekend the Scottish former Everton boss played host to his previous employers and once again the hammers failed to hold a lead with the game ending in a 1-1 draw. Defeat on the road to Sheffield United preceded the weekend’s stalemate whilst the New Year’s Day league encounter against Bournemouth saw West Ham handsome 4-0 victors.

The bank holiday drubbing of the cherries afforded West Ham Star man Felipe Anderson the opportunity to get his 2019/20 goal scoring duck off his back however the Brazilian will not be available for selection against city having fell awkwardly in the trip to Sheffield and is suffering from an abdominal problem. Others on the hammers injury list include Jack Wilshere whose groin issues continue to plague him whilst attacking wide man Michail Antonio is 50-50 in his attempt to return from thigh trouble. Ukranian winger Andriy Yarmolenko gets closer to fitness and has an outside chance of being in the match day squad whilst goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is in a similar situation and whilst unlikely to start might make the bench.

With the hammers just a single point above the bottom three the travelling fans will be hoping the initial lift Moyes return brought to the club’s fortunes will get back on track against a Leicester side also floundering for momentum.

For the foxes Brendan Rodgers stated to the media his side produced a performance at Burley worthy of a victory in their last outing at the weekend, and whilst the city fans ponder just why their sides scintillating form has partially deserted them of late even more of a mystery has been the reason for the omission of Ben Chilwell and Hamza Choudhury from the match day squad. Rumours have been rife and despite the media’s best efforts to prize more from city’s Northern Irish gaffer he has remained respectfully tight lipped on the situation and we can only speculate as to why they were left out. It is known that both missed parts of the previous week’s 1^st team training schedule and reports suggested the crucial final pre-game session for the Burnley trip was part of the missing jigsaw. However it is not believed that either have any significant physical injury problems and you’d hope that both would return to availability for the mid-week tussle that could well help get city back onto the rails. Rodger’s alluded to the young pair of city stars ‘learning their lesson’ having missed that training session and let’s hope this unclear saga is behind both them and their gaffer.

All important midfielder Wilfred Ndidi’s recovery seems to be going better than expected and Rodgers alluded to the possibility of the Nigerian disrupter being available for match day squad contention. There’s no doubt since the ever present protector of the back four picked up a knee injury in training the foxes have been scratching about trying to find a way to negate the hole he has left in the side, however with the number 25 nearing fitness and Coudhury’s issues hopefully behind him you’d hope for a more secure insurance policy in front of the defence going into this mid week match up.

Leicester’s consecutive home league defeats against Southampton and Liverpool allied with 2 recent losses to sides in the bottom half have raised an eyebrow on the face of an on watching Filbert fox and the concerned crowd sat behind him. Brendan Rodgers faces issues not of a positive nature and in significant dose for the first time since his appoint at the East Midlands outfit and whilst squad rotation and fixture congestion could all be sited as genuine reasons for part of his troubles ultimately a home match against a side struggling toward the bottom of the table should afford ideal opportunity to put to bed some of the unsettled murmurings from some fans and the local media alike.

With a 12 point cushion to Manchester United in 5^th place and a healthy 6 point gap to Chelsea directly below in 4^th the foxes can shore up their Premier League standing with a win and stride forward into the coming cup clashes which could see the foxes book a place at Wembley.

Leicester City possible line up:

Schmeichel, Ricardo, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell, Choudhury, Tielemans, Maddison, Perez, Barnes, Vardy

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Randolph, Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Snodgrass, Rice, Noble, Fornals, Lanzini, Haller