Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham take on struggling Leicester City in the Premier League at The King Power Stadium. The game takes place on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, with kick-off at 8:15 P.M. Last Word on Football brings you a West Ham predicted lineup.
West Ham Predicted Lineup vs Leicester City
How West Ham Have Lined up Recently
Alphonse Areola is the first-choice goalkeeper for West Ham, albeit due to an injury to the France international, Lukasz Fabianski has started the last five matches for Lopetegui’s side. Despite the 39-year-old being called into action, The Hammers have now kept two consecutive clean sheets. Areola, who has started the majority of matches, has only kept one clean sheet all season.
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Lopetegui has consistently played a back four of Emerson, Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. This was last changed in the 3-0 away defeat to Nottingham Forest, where the Spaniard opted for a three at the back of Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Todibo.
The midfield has also been consistent, with Lopetegui preferring two defensive midfielders. This has usually been between Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez, with Tomas Soucek alternating between them both. Soucek started against Everton alongside Rodriguez due to Alvarez’s red card against Nottingham Forest where he got yellow cards in close concession.
Mohammed Kudus is set to return to action for the Hammers’. The last game he played in was an away defeat to Tottenham, where he got sent off in added time due to violent conduct. He will be set to join Lucas Paqueta in midfield. Soucek has started the past few matches with Paqueta in midfield, with Rodriguez and Alvarez benched. Crysensio Summerville has replaced Kudus while he was suspended, with Jarrod Bowen on the right wing and Michail Antonio up front.
West Ham Recent Form
Lopetegui is under pressure as West Ham manager after their poor start to the season. After West Ham’s 5-2 defeat at home to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, this increased even more pressure on the Spaniard.
Arsenal ran riot in East London, leading by four goals in the opening 38 minutes before the Hammers were able to claw back two goals in quick concession just before halftime. It is the first time since 2012 that seven goals have been scored in the same half. The last time this happened was when Manchester United beat Reading 4-3 at the Madejski Stadium.
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That being said, West Ham have won as many games as they’ve lost in their last five matches. Their last away match was a 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday night. That was West Ham’s second consecutive clean sheet of the year, something they last achieved in January.
West Ham Injuries to Consider
Now that Kudus has returned for the Hammers, there is only one absence for Lopetegui to consider. This comes through Niklas Fullkrug, who has been sidelined due to an Achilles tendon injury, something Julen Lopetegui described as a ‘difficult injury to analyse’. His last game was a 5-0 win over Hungary in the Nations League, and his last match for West Ham came in a 1-0 win in the Carabao Cup over Bournemouth.
West Ham Predicted Lineup vs Leicester City
GK – Fabianski
LB – Emerson
CB – Kilman
CB – Mavropanos
RB – Wan-Bissaka
CM – Soucek
CM – Paqueta
LW – Kudus
CM – Soler
RW – Bowen
ST – Antonio