Venue: King Power Stadium, Kick-Off: 20:15pm
After watching his new team lose 4-1 at Brentford, Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of his first Leicester City game as they welcome West Ham Utd to the King Power Stadium in a pivotal game at the bottom of the Premier League table.
One of the first jobs Van Nistelrooy will need to address is the Foxes defence – with 27 goals conceded already this season, equating to an average of just over 2 goals conceded per game played, means the Foxes have the second worst defensive record in the division with only bottom of the table Southampton faring worse. The positive for the Dutchman is that Leicester have attacking players, including 37 year old Jamie Vardy, who are capable of scoring goals (their 16 league goals means they are only behind Wolves in terms of goals scored when analysing the teams currently in the bottom six of the table).
In the opposing dugout, the pressure is continuing to build on West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui especially after they were soundly beaten 5-2 by Arsenal at home in their last league game. It is reported that if the Hammers do not get a positive result tonight, the Spaniard will be replaced by current Porto manager Sergio Conceicao.
Success for West Ham will center on the performance of England international Jarred Bowen who has eight goals and seven assists in his last 18 games against newly promoted teams. The returning Mohammed Kudus will also offer the Hammers another attacking outlet that could prove the difference against a shaky Leicester defence.
Sports Alert News Prediction: We think the appointment of Van Nistlerooy is a shrewd appointment, however we think this game will come too soon for him to implement his ideas. With the return of Kudus that could give West Ham the attacking advantage, however we think this will end in an entertaining 2-2 draw.
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