Leicester City vs West Ham United preview, team news, match tickets, and prediction | OneFootball

Leicester City and West Ham United will clash on December 3 in the Premier League. Leicester, one of the newly promoted teams, will want to get their season going in the upcoming weeks to stay up at the end of the season. In contrast, the Hammers, who have played in Europe consistently in the past few seasons, are aiming to get back to those heights.

Leicester dominated the Championship last term to earn an immediate return back to the Premier League. The Foxes were one of the favourites to return to the top flight and did just that under the management of Enzo Maresca.

That said, the Foxes will have to be guided under a new manager this season following the departure of Maresca to Chelsea. The club’s management decided to go with Steve Cooper, the former Nottingham Forest manager, as the club’s head coach.

With the managerial situation sorted just in time to start of the season, the Foxes sit 15th in the table at the time of writing having claimed their first win of the campaign before the international break.

Leicester lost players following their promotion back to the Premier League. Veteran Marc Albrighton, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Dennis Praet were released after the season finished, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall left for Chelsea in a deal worth £30m. In terms of the arrivals, electric winger Issahaku Fatawu made his loan move permanent, Caleb Okoli joined from Atalanta, while Bobby De Cordova-Reid arrived on a free transfer after the expiration of his contract at Fulham. Jordan Ayew and Odsonne Edouard joined the team from Crystal Palace, and Oliver Skipp made a big move from Tottenham to the King Power Stadium.

Leicester City, as of the time of writing, have won one, drawn three and lost three of their opening Premier League games this season. They have been unfortunate in some games but they need to do better with closing out games if they want to stay up. At the Emirates against Arsenal, they rallied back from two goals down to level, only to go down 4-2 after stoppage time. As a newly promoted side, you need to grind out results as much as you can and the Foxes have not been able to do that.

On the other hand, West Ham are looking to build on some of their recent achievements while playing good football under new manager Julen Lopetegui, who replaced David Moyes in the summer. However, it has been a poor start. The summer saw heavy investment as Max Kilman arrived from Wolves in a big-money move, while Luis Guilherme came in from Palmeiras to strengthen the attack, and goalkeeper Wes Foderingham joined on a free transfer after the expiration of his contract at Sheffield United. Crysencio Summerville (Leeds United), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis), Niclas Füllkrug (Borussia Dortmund), and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Manchester United) were the other additions to the squad.

In terms of the exits, they let go of the likes of Flynn Downes to Southampton, Said Benrahma to Lyon, Thilo Kehrer to AS Monaco, James Ward-Prowse to Nottingham Forest and Ben Johnson to Ipswich, while Angelo Ogbonna and Divin Mubuma also moved on.

After a tough start, a 4-1 win over Ipswich before the international break lifted optimism around the London Stadium.

Match tickets

The epic match at King Power Stadium in Leicester kicks off on Tuesday 3rd December 2024, at 20:45 UK time.

The 32,262-capacity stadium with its electrifying atmosphere will host the Premier League clash between the Foxes and the Hammers.

Getting Leicester City vs West Ham tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.

Team news

Lineups

Leicester still have the bulk of the squad they had back in the Championship. Steve Cooper might decide to keep faith with the players who have shown signs of recent improvement.

Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen should continue as the club’s number one, and centre-back Caleb Okoli will continue to build a partnership with Wout Faes at the heart of the defence. In the attack, Facundo Buonanotte has caught the eye since joining on loan from Brighton.

Leicester City XI: Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Winks, Skipp; Buonanotte, Mavididi, Vardy.

Julen Lopetegui has some decisions to make in his starting XI with the Spaniard still yet to discover his best team. Michail Antonio’s performance in the win over Ipswich suggested the veteran still has more to give, while Jarrod Bowen looked back to his best, having been named captain in the summer.

West Ham United XI: Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Rodriguez, Soucek, Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus; Antonio.

Prediction

From the head-to-head records, it is obvious the two teams are closely matched. As we near the halfway mark of the season for this fixture, we will have a clearer indication of the capabilities of the two teams.

However, the Foxes, who are at home, do have a squad capable of putting the Hammers to the test and that should be the case when they meet. The game might just end in a stalemate.

Leicester City 1-1 West Ham United

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