West Ham will attempt to bounce back from two 1-0 defeats in a row when they face Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, with Manuel Pellegrini set to make two changes from the defeat to Tottenham.
The Hammers have seen the bubble of their recent renaissance popped by Brighton and Spurs in their last two games, and they’ll be looking for a response against Claude Puel’s Foxes.
Pellegrini will have plenty to chew on in regards to his team selection, with central midfield experiencing a rush of injuries and winger Andriy Yarmolenko ruled out for six months.
Despite recent negative results the Chilean will likely resist the urge to tinker too much with his team, though, and will surely make just two changes for the clash with Leicester, with the aforementioned Yarmolenko missing out, and senior player Robert Snodgrass likely axed to the bench.
Lukasz Fabianski is a near dead cert to start in goal, with the Poland international emerging as one of the team’s most important players this season. Pablo Zabaleta, too, has provided a steadying influence at right back and will likely continue at the expense of summer signing Ryan Fredericks.
The centre back pairing picks itself at this point, and Pellegrini would be a fool to break up the formidable partnership of Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop. The pair were superb in defeat against Spurs last time out, and will surely continue here. Aaron Cresswell, too, will likely be given another start ahead of Arthur Masuaku.
Pellegrini told the Evening Standard recently that he expects Pedro Obiang to be ready for the Leicester game, having missed the Tottenham clash. The Spaniard is expected, therefore, to return to the fold at the King Power, with Declan Rice and Mark Noble surely partnering him in a midfield three.
Up front, Marko Arnautovic and Felipe Anderson will likely continue, while Michail Antonio could be given a chance to impress alongside them.
