Leicester City vs. West Ham
Venue: King Power Stadium
Kick off:12PM
Early Premier League leaders Leicester City will look to continue their 100 per cent start to the season when they welcome West Ham United to the King Power Stadium this afternoon.
Both sides go into the match off the back of big wins last weekend, when Leicester thumped Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium and West Ham shocked Wolverhampton Wanderers.
History beckons for Leicester this weekend as they bid to win their opening four league games of a season for the first time ever, and they will be firm favourites to do so too.
Last weekend’s incredible 5-2 triumph at Manchester City, in which they won and scored three penalties, was a real statement of intent from the Foxes after they tailed off in the second half of last season and ultimately missed out on the Champions League places.
The early signs suggest that Brendan Rodgers’s side are more than capable of pushing for the top four again; not only do they sit top of the table with three wins from three, but they are also the division’s top scorers with 12 goals from those three outings – three more than the next leading scorers Liverpool.
Indeed, no team since 2012 has registered as many goals in their opening three league games of a season, the Foxes having scored three past West Bromwich Albion, four past Burnley and then five at Man City.
Jamie Vardy has once again been leading the charge with five goals already this term, and he will fancy his chances of causing problems for a West Ham defence that is not exactly renowned for keeping goals out.
Indeed, the Hammers have only kept three Premier League clean sheets this calendar year, which is fewer than any other club to have played in both seasons.
Curiously, all of those clean sheets have come in 4-0 wins, so when West Ham do keep the opposition at bay they tend to make an event of it – most recently at home to Wolves last weekend.
That 4-0 win was the most surprising yet as West Ham picked up their first points of the season, having been beaten at home by Newcastle United and lost to Arsenal prior to that.
It is in their last two games – against stronger opposition on paper – that they have produced their best performances, so David Moyes will be eager for that trend to continue with Leicester, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool in their next four league outings.
Moyes will still be watching on from home due to his positive coronavirus test, having seen his side suffer mixed fortunes during his absence so far, the 4-0 win over Wolves being followed up by a 4-1 defeat to Everton in the EFL Cup in midweek.
West Ham have not enjoyed much success away from home under the Scot so far, winning only four of their 23 such games in the league – including 14 defeats, eight of which have come in their last 11.
By contrast, Leicester have not lost to London opposition since Rodgers took over at the club, a run which includes six wins and stretches back to February 2019.
Leicester City possible XI: Schmeichel, Castagne, Evans, Soyuncu, Justin, Ayoze, Tielemans, Mendy, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
West Ham United possible XI: Fabianski, Johnson, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Masuaku, Bowen, Soucek, Rice, Fornals, Antonio.