West Ham vs. Leicester City
Venue: London Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
Leicester City will be looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats when they face West Ham United at the London Stadium this afternoon.
The high-flying Foxes were given a reality check in losses to Manchester City and particularly Liverpool either side of Christmas, but face a West Ham side hovering just above the relegation zone.
Regardless of how the year has ended for them, Leicester finish 2019 in a much better position than they did 2018.
Back-to-back defeats at the hands of Manchester City and Liverpool showcased how far the Foxes have to go to match the very best in the division, but to even be mentioned in the same breath as them is testament to the work Brendan Rodgers has done since taking over in February.
The Boxing Day drubbing at home to Liverpool was a particularly chastening defeat, almost doubling the number of goals they had conceded at the King Power Stadium in one 90-minute spell, and the challenge now will be to recover and regroup with less than 48 hours between matches.
The opposition at least does become easier, with Leicester going from facing the other two teams in the top three to taking on a team hovering perilously close to the relegation zone.
Leicester are aiming to go four Premier League matches unbeaten in London for the first time having only dropped points against ‘big six’ opposition on their travels so far this season, while only Man City have outscored them on the road.
Those statistics spell worrying signs for a West Ham side that has lost six of their last eight league games and are winless in front of their own fans since September.
The Hammers have picked up just one point from the last 15 available at the London Stadium, and no team in the Premier League has accrued fewer points at home over the first half of the season.
West Ham are also on the cusp of a couple of unwanted landmarks as they are in danger of losing four top-flight home games in a row for the first time since 2006 and could become only the fourth team in Premier League history to concede three or more goals in four successive home matches.
It is no surprise that the fans have grown increasingly restless with under-pressure manager Manuel Pellegrini, then, and another defeat today would plunge his future into even more doubt ahead of a crucial New Year’s Day meeting with Bournemouth, who currently sit just one point and one place above them.
One issue which needs solving above any other is West Ham’s ability to hold on to leads, having dropped a league-high 15 points from winning positions already in 2019-20 following their late Boxing Day defeat to Crystal Palace.
Had they saved all of those points then they would sit fourth rather than fourth-from-bottom, so tightening things up when they do go in front could be the difference between a comfortable season and a relegation battle for them.
West Ham possible XI: Roberto, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Snodgrass, Noble, Rice, Lanzini, Antonio, Haller.
Leicester possible XI: Schmeichel, Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell, Perez, Maddison, Ndidi, Tielemans, Albrighton, Vardy.