West Ham vs Leicester LIVE: Team news, line-ups and more ahead of Premier League fixture today
David Moyes has worked wonders to take his West Ham side to within reach of European football, but Sunday afternoon’s clash with Leicester City could define just what their expectations are for the season run-in.
The Hammers are sixth ahead of kick-off and could jump back up to fourth with three points here – a task all the more important after both Liverpool and Chelsea won on Saturday. Leicester, however, are one of the few sides with more points this term than West Ham; currently in third, the Foxes have dropped off somewhat of late, winning only two of their last five in the league and being soundly beaten by Man City last weekend.
Having dropped out of the top four late on last season, Brendan Rodgers’ side will be desperate to ensure they complete the job this time around. Three points for the Foxes would give them a buffer of seven points down to fifth, with just seven matches left to play.
The form of Jesse Lingard has been a massive boost for the Hammers in the second half of the season – and a boost for his own international prospects – and another big showing in a game of real magnitude would only increase the clamour for his services this summer, when his loan at London Stadium comes to an end.
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Follow all the action live and get the latest updates from West Ham against Leicester below.
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David Moyes on Leicester City
They’re an incredibly good side, they’re doing well this season and have done for a while now, they’re in the semi-final of the FA Cup so we’re up against a top team and a team who have been competing up the top end of the league for quite a few seasons now.
“I think the way they have gone about their business and the way they have worked have been very good. Brendan [Rodgers] has done a great job. They are competitive, they’re challenging the top teams at the moment and they’ve certainly broken into the top six
“They weren’t even in the Premier League a few years ago, so they deserve to be in among that group. They‘ve shown it’s not a one-off, they’ve built on it, they’re continuing to build on it and they’re having a very good season this year.
“So, it’s a tough game, but nobody has mentioned that we went there and beat them, so let’s see if we can go and do it again.”
Recent results
West Ham have lost just three of their last 16 Premier League matches, against Man City, Man Utd and Liverpool. In that run they’ve drawn four times and won nine including a 2-3 victory over Wolves last time out. They started the weekend in fourth place but wins for Liverpool and Chelsea yesterday have dropped them down to sixth. Victory today would be a huge bonus for the Hammers and would propel them back into the European spots.
Leicester’s form has been fluctuating of late. They were knocked out of the Europa League by Slavia Prague and followed it up with defeat to Arsenal and a 1-1 draw with Burnley in the league. Then in March they defeated Brighton and Sheffield United in the league and knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup to reach the semi-finals. Last time out though they lost 0-2 to Manchester City at the King Power Stadium and will want to pick up three points today to widen the gap on Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham who are all vying for a top four finish.
Team news – changes
David Moyes makes just one change to his West Ham side with Jarrod Bowen coming in for the injured Michail Antonio. Mark Noble is fit to start and makes his 400th Premier League appearance.
Brendan Rodgers makes two changes to the Leicester starting XI. Marc Albrighton and Ayoze Perez drop to the bench with Dennis Praet and Ricardo replacing them.
Team news
West Ham XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Cresswell; Soucek, Noble; Fornals, Lingard, Masuaku; Bowen
Leicester XI: Schmeichel; Amartey, Evans, Fofana; Ricardo, Tielemans, Ndidi, Praet, Castagne; Iheanacho, Vardy
As it stands
This is a crucial game at the top of the Premier League. Both West Ham and Leicester City are challenging for a top four finish and have Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham breathing down their neck. Leicester are currently third with a two point lead over Chelsea and victory today would give them a nice five point cushion. West Ham meanwhile will jump back into fourth if they pick up all three points but if they lose they will have surrendered their advantage to Chelsea.
Early team news
Michail Antonio is absent for West Ham after picking up a hamstring injury against Wolves. Also missing are Declan Rice and Mark Noble.
For Leicester, Caglar Soyuncu tested positive for Covid-19 during the international break and remains in Turkey whilst Cengiz Under and Harvey Barnes are still injured.
West Ham vs Leicester
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