West Ham v Leicester: Three things to look out for in vital clash
Leicester City travel to the London Stadium to face with West Ham.
The Foxes lay in a perilous position with a tremendous opportunity to close the distance with the non-relegation areas.
Here is what to watch out for in the vital match.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side is in critical need of some results as the Foxes fall further and further away from the survival spots, and closer into the relegation chasm.
Leicester City are five points behind Wolverhampton Wanderers in 17th, and 13 points behind our next challengers in 16th.
Points are necessary, and with a difficult run of games, this might be our best opportunity to at least get a bit closer.
With all the importance around the fixture, Nistelrooy will be pressured into making changes, the defenders will need to work particularly hard to safeguard our goal, and some players may feel the need to be a little heroic.
Leicester City pressured adjustments
In the aftermath of the entirely pitiful Brentford excursion, the sacking of two of Steve Cooper’s coaches, and the outrage in the fanbase.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will experience immense pressure to make tangible adjustments to the starting line-up.
The Dutchman will have to decide whether to capitulate or maintain his ground with the system and individuals that are not functioning.
For me, the primary issue to watch out for will be which players come in and which remain in the side.
Facundo Buonanotte has been the feature of much support from the Leicester faithful, seeing him as thrilling if sometimes wasteful.
The Argentinian has scarcely featured under Nistelrooy, and West Ham could see the youthful attacker introduced into the starting squad for the first time in a while.
The centurion front three used in the past few matches is scarcely a threat on goal, has failed us continually, and the argument for keeping them has been shown an absurdity.
The Foxes’ head coach has claimed he wanted Jordan Ayew and Bobby Decordova-Reid for their defensive contribution: we have one of the worst defensive records and almost no threat on goal. Nistelrooy has to remove the duo.
Although the system obviously needs changes, the King Power Club are unlikely to make any alterations with the boss believing his possession-based system which relies on sluggish progression up the pitch and moments of excellence to create chances is the right fit.
This has been undermining Leicester City with no capacity to penetrate through defensive lines being offered.
Look out for subtle adjustments with players in various positions to help strengthen this (Buonanotte the main change up front).
Defenders must Labor Extra Effort
Upfront, the Hammers have a formidable potential to destroy the Foxes defence. Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, James Justin, and even Victor Kristiansen at times step up beyond our own defensive line to press an attacker.
This will simply not work against Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen, and Lucas Paquetá.
That collection are highly technical and nimble, able to round defenders and have enough velocity to escape past them.
As such, we will watch out for those players who emphasize our backline working exceptionally hard and presumably not standing up as much as usual.
However, if they continue to level up during the contest, watch out for how many goals Leicester City let in.
Heroism
One of the main criticisms of some of our athletes is wastefulness. Think of Buonanotte and Bilal el Khannouss sometimes firing from absurd positions merely because they do not have a forward pass on.
They concede possession, do not score, and demolish any chance the team have in creating a possibly superior opportunity.
With all the criticisms and the critical importance of this fixture, Leicester players may attempt to go ‘lone wolf’ in taking on opponents, progressing the ball, and in taking shots.
There is less trust of one another, more arguments, and more individual heroism.
Imagine Wilfred Ndidi disregarding his defenders and trying to intercept and tackle every attacker himself, Boubakary Soumare trying to press through midfield without the support of other talents, and Jamie Vardy or Buonanotte trying to take all the shots themselves.
This is what I am anticipating to see in the West Ham encounter.
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