Premier League | Gameweek 27

Feb 27, 2025 at 8pm UK

London Stadium

West Ham vs Leicester

Match preview

West Ham ended a four-match winless run in the Premier League and handed Arsenal their first top-flight home defeat of the season with a narrow 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Hammers withstood 44 minutes of pressure from the hosts before captain Jarrod Bowen headed home the winner on the stroke of half-time. The second-half dismissal of Myles Lewis-Skelly helped West Ham's cause and they eventually held on to win back-to-back away games against the Gunners for the first time since 2005-06.

Last weekend's victory was only the second of Graham Potter's reign at West Ham and, although it was not enough to lift the Hammers from 16th in the Premier League table, any fears of relegation appear to have evaporated as they now sit 13 points above the relegation zone with 12 league games remaining.

West Ham have lost their last two Premier League home games under Potter (2-0 to Crystal Palace and 1-0 to Brentford), and having lost three in a row at the London Stadium under former boss Julen Lopetegui earlier in the season, the Hammers will be hoping to avoid the record of three consecutive home defeats in the same campaign.

The East London outfit will have their work cut out on Thursday, having won eight of their last nine Premier League home games against promoted sides and losing just one of their last 14 overall (W11 D2), although that defeat came in the aforementioned reverse fixture against Leicester almost three months ago.

Since guiding Leicester to victory at home to West Ham in his first game in charge, manager Ruud van Nistelrooy has suffered 10 Premier League defeats in his last 12 games in charge, with the last six at the King Power Stadium lost by a combined score of 15-0.

The Foxes' hopes of avoiding an immediate return to the Championship were dealt another blow a week ago Friday when they were thrashed 4-0 at home by Brentford, leaving them 19th in the table and five points adrift of safety with 12 games remaining.

First-team coach Ben Dawson and goalkeeping coach Danny Alcock have since parted company with Leicester, a decision Van Nistelrooy described as the "best solution", while the Dutchman himself is understood to have the immediate backing of the Foxes' board to revive the club's campaign.

Only bottom side Southampton (five) have collected fewer Premier League away points than Leicester (eight) this season, while the Foxes are the only top-flight side yet to keep a clean sheet away from home, conceding a league-high 32 goals in 12 games.

However, Leicester will relish a meeting with West Ham, having beaten the Hammers in their last three Premier League encounters, more than in their previous 10 (W2 D4 L4), and losing just four of their last 11 in the league (W5 D2).

Recent Performance

West Ham United Premier League form:WLDLLW

Leicester City Premier League form:LLWLLL

Leicester City form (all competitions):LWLLLL

Team News

Potter has revealed that West Ham duo Lucas Paqueta (ankle) and Vladimir Coufal (hamstring) are "making progress" in their recovery from injury, but they remain on the sidelines along with Michail Antonio (leg), Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug (both hamstring).

Potter switched to a 5-3-2 formation for the win at Arsenal, but the Hammers boss may revert to a four-man defence against a struggling Leicester side, which could see Aaron Cresswell make way for Emerson Palmieri at left-back at the expense of Oliver Scarles, who made his first PL start last weekend.

Bowen and Mohamed Kudus will both continue in attack and could be joined by January loanee Evan Ferguson, who is eager to make his first PL start since joining the Hammers, while Carlos Soler could be recalled to start either in centre-midfield or on the left.

For Leicester, Abdul Fatawu and Ricardo Pereira remain sidelined with knee and muscle injuries respectively, while James Justin (ankle) will be assessed before kick-off after missing the defeat at Brentford.

Woyo Coulibaly will continue at right-back if Justin is deemed unfit, while Jannik Vestergaard could return to the heart of the defence at the expense of either Wout Faes or Caleb Okoli.

Bilal El Khannouss and Jamie Vardy, who both got on the scoresheet against West Ham earlier in the season, will retain their places in attack, while Stephy Mavididi and Facundo Buonanotte could be the Foxes' pairing in the final third, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Jordan Ayew making way.

Possible starting lineup

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Bowen, Kudus, Soler; Ferguson

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Coulibaly, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Soumare, Ndidi; Buonanotte, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy