Both West Ham and Leicester City will be looking for their first wins this month when they square off at the King Power Stadium on Saturday evening. The Foxes, like the Hammers, are sitting in the bottom half of the table after losing 2-1 at home to Everton before the international break and 3-1 away at Arsenal in their first game after it on Monday evening.
The Hammers have a bit of an injury crisis for this one after Andriy Yarmolenko was ruled out for six months after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the 1-0 loss to Spurs over the weekend. The lanky Ukrainian was effectively West Ham’s first choice right winger in Pellegrini’s formation, and his absence could mean a move to the right wing for Robert Snodgrass, who has the technical skills but lacks pace, or Michail Antonio, who has pace and strength, but little to offer otherwise. The Chilean gaffer could also stick with Grady Diangana after the youngster impressed as Yarmolenko’s replacement at the London Stadium. Pedro Obiang is expected to make a return from injury, and that will be good news for Pellegrini who was without the services of the hard working Spaniard and fellow medios Carlos Sanchez and Jack Wilshere against the Lilywhites.
West Ham also seem to be having problems upfront- Marko Arnautovic has been impressive, but is managing a tricky knee problem. Yarmolenko has accounted for a quarter of their goals so far, but is now a long term injury casualty. Javier Hernandez made a welcome return on Saturday, but there are doubts over whether he could play as a lone striker upfront. That probably explains Leicester’s status as marginal favourites (+120) for this game. The Hammers are being quoted at +250, and if those odds seem attractive, make sure to do some research to see which awesome betting site fits best for you and offers a better bonus because you’re probably going to want that and each site is a little different from one another.
While their league position suggests otherwise, West Ham have actually been good this season. Many fans felt they were unlucky to lose to Arsenal and could’ve beaten Chelsea had Arnautovic been fit, and they were easily the more dominant side in their recent clashes against both Brighton and Tottenham. In fact, most pundits expected them to be able to take points off Maurcio Pochettino’s side– a sign that they feel Manuel Pellegrini’s tactics are bearing fruit.
West Ham won 2-0 at the King Power Stadium in the same fixture last season, with Joao Mario and Mark Noble scoring for the visitors. A repeat will do very nicely for Pellegrini, especially given they’ll have a rematch against Spurs in the Cup a few days after the Leicester clash.
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