OPINION
Leicester City manager Claude Puel is reportedly set to take a gamble with his team selection for the clash with West Ham by dropping Jamie Vardy.
The Telegraph reported on Saturday that the Foxes were set to take a huge gamble by dropping the 31-year-old forward despite the player being deemed fit enough play, even though he left the pitch early during the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on Monday.
The newspaper claimed that Puel’s status at the Foxes remains uncertain as he has had a stormy 12 months in charge and defeat at the hands of the Hammers will only see the pressure on him increase.
However there’s no guarantee his gamble won’t pay-off.
West Ham are now at risk of being taken by surprise as they’ve no doubt been planning to deal with the pacey Vardy, but instead will potentially have to find a way to stop Kelechi Iheanacho or Shinji Okazaki from causing them damage.
While these two attackers don’t have the most intimidating of statistics when it comes to their goalscoring record in the Premier League, with Vardy out the way they will know it’s their time to shine.
Both will be looking to make a point by proving the club doesn’t need Vardy to be amongst the goals and this points the Hammers at risk of facing an attacking duo with some extra motivation.
Also aside from this, if Leicester City are able to beat the Hammers without their perceived star man Vardy then more eyebrows will be raised about the Hammers potentially losing to them.
While performances, and result, have improved under Pellegrini after his slow start to life at the London Stadium, if they lose to the Foxes then they would have lost their last three league games in a row.
No one will focus on the fact they played well against Tottenham, just the fact they lost 1-0 to them.
Given this seems to be a storm brewing regarding Puel being the manager everyone likes to tip for the sack, along with Jose Mourinho, if the Hammers suffer a defeat on Saturday then the storm could turn in the direction of Pellegrini.
The last thing the experienced manager needs is for the media’s focus to be on his position once again as it doesn’t exactly make his job easier.
Therefore while some may celebrate the exclusion of Vardy just because he is missing, it doesn’t mean the Hammers will necessarily be having a party once Saturday’s game is over.
