David Moyes’ first home game as West Ham manager sees them host Claude Puel’s Leicester City at the London Stadium on Friday night. The Moyes era began last weekend with a 2-0 loss away to Watford, but it was a game that could’ve easily ended differently had West Ham, and Cheikhou Kouyate and Marko Arnautovic in particular, taken the chances that came their way
Moyes opted for four at the back at Vicarage Road instead of the flat back three system that had been deployed in recent games by his predecessor Slaven Bilic. He also had three U23 players on the bench against the Hornets, but the trio- Toni Martinez, Domingos Quina and Declan Rice, remained unused substitutes.
As mentioned above, the Hammers went down 2-0 to Marco Silva’s side on Sunday, with an element of controversy in the lead up to the home side’s second goal scored by Richarlison, with Will Hughes appearing to handle the ball (albeit unintentionally) just before delivering the decisive pass to the Brazilian.
However the game, Moyes’ 500th as a PL manager, ended in defeat and he will be desperate to get a win under his belt against Leicester. His old club Everton are the Hammers’ next opponents after the Foxes and then they face three of the big six- Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal in a ten day period. It is not a kind fixture list by any stretch of imagination, and the Scotsman will know that he needs to get results, and soon, to get the backing of the fans, most of whom seem to be against his appointment.
West Ham’s only previous league game on a Friday this season ended up in defeat- a disappointing 3-0 loss to newbies Brighton. Their last league outing at the London Stadium was a 4-1 loss to Liverpool, a result that saw the board lose patience with Slaven Bilic.
West Ham form
Watford 2-0 West Ham
West Ham 1-4 Liverpool
Crystal Palace 2-2 West Ham
Spurs 2-3 West Ham
West Ham 0-3 Brighton
However Moyes has NEVER lost a home league game to Leicester as manager, and neither have the Foxes EVER won a Friday PL game in their history (three losses and one draw in four previous attempts). At the time of writing, West Ham are 15/8 at Bet365 to pick up their first ever win under Moyes, with Leicester being quoted at 7/4. If you fancy the Hammers to get the better of the Foxes, here is a bonus code that could come in handy.
Marko Arnautovic was substituted in the Watford game with what looked like a serious hand injury, but the Austrian, easily one of West Ham’s best players on the pitch against the Hornets, has been passed fit. Also likely to start is Ghana forward Andre Ayew, who would’ve probably been in the XI against Watford but for his illness.
Leicester City form
Leicester 0-2 Man City
Stoke 2-2 Leicester
Leicester 2-0 Everton
Leicester 3-1 Leeds
Swansea 1-2 Leicester
A loss for West Ham could see them sink further in the league table, while 12th place Leicester could be in the top half come Monday should they triumph at the London Stadium. For the Hammers’ last win over the Foxes, you need to go all the way back to December 2014, with Leicester unbeaten in five meetings since (W4, D1)
The referee for this one is Martin Atkinson, who coincidentally enough was also the man in charge when West Ham lost 3-0 to Brighton on a Friday.
West Ham v Leicester City on 24 November, 2017 at 20.00 UK at the London Stadium.