West Ham v Leicester predictions: Expect action in key top-four battle

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for West Ham v Leicester in the Premier League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 2.05pm Sunday

Best bet

Over 2.5 goals
2pts 53-50 Sporting Index

Team news

West Ham
Michail Antonio, Declan Rice, Andriy Yarmolenko and Angelo Ogbonna are set to miss the game.

Leicester
Caglar Soyuncu (Covid-19) has been ruled out and the game also comes too soon for Harvey Barnes, Cengiz Under and Wes Morgan.

Match preview

With a top-four finish so tantalisingly close, West Ham and Leicester could come out all guns blazing when they meet at the London Stadium on Sunday.

While the Foxes would have entered the season hoping to challenge for Champions League qualification after last term’s near miss, the Hammers have gone way beyond expectations as they bid for their highest finish of the Premier League era.

Nine years ago, this was still a Championship fixture, while it was a very different story the last time West Ham hosted Leicester in December 2019, as a 2-1 defeat brought Manuel Pellegrini’s reign to an end and left the Londoners one point above the drop zone.

Fast-forward 16 months and having been three-figure outsiders for the top four at the start of the season, David Moyes’ men entered the weekend in fourth having held their nerve to see off Wolves 3-2 on Monday.

That victory came at a cost though, with Michail Antonio limping off, and he joins Declan Rice on the sidelines at a time when the Hammers can ill afford to be without two of their stars.

Those injuries heap more weight on the shoulders of Jesse Lingard, who has been a revelation following his loan move from Manchester United. No Premier League player has been involved in more goals than Lingard since the start of February and he can carry the fight to Leicester.

While West Ham’s top-four fate is unknown, Leicester are odds-on not to repeat the mistakes of last season by letting fourth slip through their grasp. With a horrible run-in to come, the Foxes need to accumulate as many points as they can this month and they have proved adept at picking up results on their travels.

Only Manchester City have a better away record this season, while just two sides have scored more on their travels, and Leicester’s cause is helped by the return to fitness of James Maddison.

Maddison’s introduction from the bench was the only bright spot in last week’s meek 2-0 loss to Manchester City and he should start, boosting Jamie Vardy’s hopes of ending a nine-game goal drought.

Even with Vardy struggling, Brendan Rodgers has found a way to keep the goals flowing with both the Foxes and Hammers averaging just shy of two goals per game in their last ten outings.

That has contributed to West Ham participating in more games featuring over 2.5 goals than any other Premier League team this season, while Leicester aren’t far behind in that regard.

In the knowledge that a win will significantly boost their top-four ambitions, and with the last four meetings between these teams going over 2.5 goals, don’t expect either side to be shy in coming forward.

Key stat

Eight of the last 12 league meetings between West Ham and Leicester have featured over 2.5 goals.

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