A good 1st half performance at The Emirates must be taken into this game, and not to forget those fantastic chances of Maguire and Ndidi not materialising into goals, but again if such a display will be on at home v. West Ham, Leicester will bring three new points to the table.
Jamie Vardy left the field at The Emirates with a stomach problem, and he has not been training until today, so that has taken it’s time. Leicester were reduced to 10 men at The Emirates and had to finish the game with one man short, as all the subs were introduced.
Good news is that Demarai Gray is back in contention and has trained this week and hopefully will be available from the bench. Matty James and Wes Morgan are the two not available, James still injured and Morgan serving his red card ban.
West Ham will of course be without their Ukrainian forward Yarmolenko, who is out long term with an injury, not expected back before April next year, and the list of absent players are long and difficult for Pellegrini.
Wilshire, Carroll, Lanzini, Holland, Mba Obiang, Sanchez and Silva are all on that list and surely it is a difficult situation for West Ham, and they are weakened and will come to King Power Stadium possibly looking for a modest result.
Claude Puel has passed his first year in charge of Leicester City, and as we all are looking at his work, there of course a great number of positives and a few negatives. He has made a massive improvement in the way Leicester City play the game, but again it has also turned a few results in the wrong direction.
With a number of new faces and youngsters introduced, you will probably see the team progress given time and we should really honor him for his work. Gray, Chilwell, Maddison and Maguire are all in the England frame at the moment, and there are a lot of positives, and his stats are good, 10th in the PL, two quarter finals in the cups, not bad at all, and hopefully he can get Leicester back in the battle for European places and hopefully get the club to Wembley again.
The game on Saturday, a late kick-off, 6.30, is of course the first step in that direction, always believing that three points should be collected at home. City had a difficult time in the last home fixture, losing 2-0, but again they have had a relatively good record against Hammers lately and it is a fixture we should be seen as a winning possibility.
We’ve also a seen a number of changes to both players and system, flirting with different approaches against different teams, not easy to see what Puel is up to all the time, and surely against Arsenal he had moved Amartey into the middle with Evans and Maguire, if he will stick to this in this game, who knows.
Referee,
Michael Oliver, the one to decide at King Power
Last Meeting, 11 v. 11
Home: 05.05.18, 0-2, Defeat, Premier League
Away: 24.11.18, 1-1, Draw, Premier League
Best Bet,
Our prediction is a 3-1 win
Predicted Leicester City line-up,
System: 4-4-1-1, Schmeichel – Amartey, Maguire, Evans, Chilwell – Ndidi, Mendy, Pereira, Maddison – Iheanacho – Vardy
Fun Fact,
Going back to the 2015/16 season, Andy King, Ritchie De Laet and Jeffrey Schlupp all started the game v. West Ham away mid August. Okazaki and Mahrez scored the goals in the 2-1 win. both goals were scored in the first half, and this years World Cup finalists Andrei Kramaric and N’Golo Kantè were both on the bench. Kantè coming on for Okazaki late in the 2nd half.
In Both Camps,
Keith Robson was a bit of a cult hero at West Ham, playing a great game in that European Cup winners Cup final in 1976, of course defeated but again a nice run for The Hammers. Robson later turned up at Leicester City playing from 1981 to 1983, but only nine league appearances while at the club. Andy Impey, Paul Kitson and Les Ferdinand, not to forget Brian Deane, all had periods in both camps. Jimmy Bloomfield, previously in charge of Leicester City, had a short period as a player with West Ham in the mid 60’s.
The big duel,
Vardy v. Balbuena, a bit uncertainty about Vardy, but if he is out there and ready to play, then he will be a handful for the West Ham defense.
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