Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has delivered his prediction for West Ham United’s clash with Leicester City on Saturday.
The two teams go head to head with little to play for at the London Stadium, but Merson believes there are three players that the Hammers must watch out for. Ultimately he doesn’t feel they’ll be successful, though, plumping for a 3-1 away win.
“If Leicester are serious about snatching seventh spot they really have to win this game,” he wrote on the Sky Sports website. “They have a lot of difficult games coming up. West Ham will have to come out and have a go at Leicester and that is not what you really want to be doing.
“You look at Leicester’s results, when teams come out and have a go at them, they can then hurt their opponents on the counter with [Jamie] Vardy, [James] Maddison, [Demarai] Gray. If teams come and sit back like Newcastle did, they just find it too difficult to break teams down. West Ham, though, will have a go.”
OPINION
Merson has a point, here. West Ham will go for it in front of their home crowd, and that’s usually when Leicester find a bit of joy. Then the question will be how well can the Hammers defend against players like Vardy, Maddison and Gray on the counter attack. Probably not particularly well on this season’s evidence. It’s very important that Manuel Pellegrini’s side remain disciplined in this one, because if they aren’t Leicester will punish them. It’s almost a bad thing that the game is at the London Stadium, because if West Ham were away from home they would have an excuse to sit back, soak up pressure and dare the Foxes to break them down. That’s what Newcastle did to excellent effect last Friday. However, the Hammers aren’t at home, meaning that they will look to attack at every opportunity. That could give Leicester the openings they need to secure the win here.
