Leicester City vs West Ham United
Leicester City are in a slump. They’ve suffered surprising back-to-back defeats to Southampton and Burnley, giving up an early lead on both occasions.
Luckily for the Brendan Rodgers and Foxes, Premier League Leicester City vs West Ham United is next on the fixture list. The last time they lost two on the bounce, they arrested it by beating the Hammers at the London Stadium.
The Hammers have yet to take off under new manager David Moyes and are desperate for more points to move out of relegation danger.
The Leicester City vs West Ham United odds still fancy the Foxes despite their recent defeats. But recent history hasn’t favoured the home side when these sides have met, which should give the Hammers hope of pulling off a much-needed victory.
Talking Points
Leicester’s defence badly missing Ndidi
For the second time this season, Leicester have lost two games in a row. But the first time, they suffered back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool, who handed them a 4-0 hammering. And now, they’ve dropped games to Southampton at home and away to Burnley, who had lost four Premier League games on the bounce.
Despite going ahead in both matches, they were unable to preserve those leads. That has been the issue with the Foxes in recent games. Their defence, which has been one of the best for most of the season, has started to slip a little.
The absence of Wilfred Ndidi has been a major factor in that defence’s slide. The Nigerian midfielder has missed the last three matches due to a knee injury and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to make his return against the Hammers.
Nampalys Mendy and Hamza Choudhury have both manned that defensive midfield role in Ndidi’s absence and neither has covered himself in glory.
Meanwhile, the Foxes could do with Jamie Vardy rediscovering his scoring touch. Vardy, who leads the Premier League with 17 goals this campaign, has found the net just once in his last seven matches and none in his last four, which is his longest goal drought of the season.
Vardy had a great chance to end his barren run against Burnley, but the 31-year-old was unable to convert a penalty, which proved crucial.
West Ham attack still needs work
West Ham United are still figuring things out under David Moyes. They’ve won one, lost one, and drawn one in three Premier League matches under the Scot. But after a promising start with a 4-0 win over Bournemouth, they still haven’t quite figured out how to fix their attack.
Scoring away from home has been particularly difficult. They’ve scored just three goals in their last seven away matches. They lost five of those matches while winning just two.
Top striker Sebastien Haller is putting together some promising performances, but his production of six goals in 19 appearances this season still leaves much to be desired.
However, Ndidi’s absence in Leicester’s midfield should give West Ham hope. The likes of Felipe Anderson, Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini are all talented individuals who could thrive if given the space.
Both Fornals and Anderson played well in that first match against Leicester, who didn’t start Ndidi, and will be eager to cause some more trouble to the Foxes’ defence if the Nigerian misses out once again.
History
West Ham hold the edge in recent head-to-heads. Since 1994, the two sides have played 30 times, with the Hammers grabbing 13 victories to the Foxes’ nine, with eight draws.
Although, Leicester City vs West Ham United results have been rather strange in recent years, as playing at home hasn’t provided much of an advantage to either team. The home team has not won any of their last six meetings, with the away side winning three.
Leicester have two of those away wins, which includes their first meeting of the season last month. With Vardy absent, Kelechi Iheanacho led the line for the Foxes as he scored the opener in their 2-1 win.
Betting Tip
Leicester City vs West Ham United | Leicester City 1X2 @ 1.55 | |
January 23, 03:30 (GMT+8) |
SBOBET odds have Leicester pegged as heavy 1.58 favourites to snap their recent skid and get a home win. West Ham are priced at 5.20 while a draw is 4.10.
As disappointing as Leicester’s last two defeats have been, they are still a strong side fully capable of getting back on track, with or without Ndidi.
I fully expect them to do just that in front of their home fans against West Ham, who struggle scoring goals away from home.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR () BETS ARE WORTH: | |||
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= €20 (Highly confident) | = €10 (CONFIDENT) | = €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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