West Ham United v Leicester City
Premier League, London Stadium, Thursday 27 February 2025, 8pm GMT
West Ham United will be looking to build on last weekend’s thrilling triumph over Arsenal when relegation-threatened Leicester City make the journey to London Stadium on Thursday.
The Hammers took a big step towards a return to their best form against Arsenal, and will be hoping it can be the beginning of an impressive string of results, looking to boost their current 16th-place standing as we approach the tail-end of the season.
Victory at Emirates Stadium secured back-to-back away wins over the Gunners for the first time since 2007, and Head Coach Graham Potter will be hopeful his charges can inflict further damage on Leicester’s recent struggles with a second home three-point haul of 2025.
Despite their 19th-place position in the table, and their record of just four wins in 26 this season, the Foxes will be gunning for a result at London Stadium to ease the pressure on themselves, having conceded ten goals in their last three outings and won just two of their first 12 away games this season. Before consecutive defeats to Everton, Arsenal and Brentford, Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s team had shown improvement in an eye-catching 2-1 win over Tottenham in late January.
An enticing encounter awaits under the lights, then, with so much at stake for both clubs. Read on for everything you need to know ahead of the fixture...
Tickets…
Tickets for this sold-out game are still available on the Ticket Exchange, with Season Ticket Holders who cannot attend this fixture relisting their seats for other supporters to buy. Click HERE to check availability or relist.
Travel…
There are no planned disruptions to TfL Underground services on Central, Jubilee, Circle, District, Metropolitan and Northern lines, and the Docklands Light Railway, although there are set to be significant issues on Elizabeth line services. Strike action is planned, and if these strikes go ahead, services are expected to be significantly disrupted. Supporters using this service are highly recommended to check their routes before departure.
There are no planned issues on Greater Anglia Services, while on the c2c mainline, from 23:30 (00:15 Tuesday night), services will start/terminate at Barking or Upminster due to engineering work between Fenchurch Street and Upminster.
On Southeastern, there are also planned engineering works in the Lewisham area, closing some lines. From approximately 23:15, trains will not be able to stop at Lewisham. Trains via Bexleyheath will not run or will be diverted to run via Sidcup, while on Thursday, trains on the Hayes Line will not run. Accessible replacement buses will run on a number of routes.
Stratford and Stratford City Bus Stations are located in close proximity to Stratford station. Buses that run to these stations are numbers: 25, 86, 97, 104, 108, 158, 241, 257, 262, 276, 308, 425, 473, D8.
Supporters using public transport are advised to check their journeys before they travel, using resources such as TfL’s Journey Planner and the TfL Go app. Supporters may also wish to visit the National Rail website if travelling on the rail network.
There is no parking available at London Stadium. Restrictions will be in place and enforced in the local area.
How To Follow…
Thursday's 8pm kick-off has been selected for live broadcast in the UK by TNT Sports. If you live outside the UK, click HERE for details of Premier League listings in your territory.
You can follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app, and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle on our website and social media.
Live audio commentary will be available in the UK on BBC Radio London and BBC Radio 5 Live, and worldwide on our official website and app.
Official Programme…
Our 16th issue of the season honours the memory of West Ham great Ronnie Boyce, who sadly passed away at the age of 82 earlier this month. Across seven pages of the programme, we take a look back at 'Ticker's' glittering career, while his family, friends and former colleagues share their tributes to a true Hammers hero. The programme cover and pull-out poster also feature Boyce, who scored the goals which took West Ham to the 1964 FA Cup final, headed the winning goal in the subsequent final at Wembley Stadium at 21, and won the European Cup Winners’ Cup at 22.
We also have Jarrod Bowen's captain's column, words from Head Coach Graham Potter and Steve Blowers’ chat with former West Ham defender Tommy Taylor, as we continue celebrating the 50th anniversary of our 1975 FA Cup win. There's a catch-up with the West Ham United Disabled Supporters Association, ahead of Level Playing Field's 2025 'Unite for Access' campaign, exciting features with Jean-Clair Todibo and Crysencio Summerville, exclusive columns galore, stats and in-depth analysis from Analytics United, too!
With the latest news from our Academy, women’s team and Foundation, plus puzzles, statistics and the lowdown on our opponents from King Power Stadium, the Official Programme is packed full of content for you!
Team News…
Lucas Paquetá and Vladimír Coufal will face late fitness tests ahead of West Ham United’s clash against Leicester City.
Midfield man Paquetá and right-back Coufal missed Saturday’s Premier League win against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, while forwards Niclas Füllkrug and Crysencio Summerville (both hamstring) are set to remain on the sidelines alongside long-term absentee Michail Antonio.
Prior to Arsenal, Head Coach Graham Potter said that both Paquetá and Coufal had an ‘outside chance’ of featuring against the Foxes. He will be facing the media at his pre-match press conference scheduled for 1.30pm GMT on Tuesday 25 February, where the boss will provide all the latest team news updates.
For Leicester City, Ricardo Pereira, who has not played since November because of a serious hamstring injury, is back in training and closing in on a return to first-team action, while James Justin missed the 4-0 defeat to Brentford on Friday.
Abdul Fatawu, Nathan Opoku and Harry Souttar are expected to miss out.
Opposition…
Exactly ten years ago, if you had told a Leicester City supporter what their club would achieve over the next decade, they simply would not have believed you.
On 15 February 2015, the Foxes had bottom of the Premier League table for two-and-a-half months, had lost four matches in a row, ten of their last 13 and won just four games all season.
What happened next was scarcely believable.
First, after going another four matches without a win, manager Nigel Pearson somehow turned Leicester’s form around. Andy King’s 86th-minute winner against West Ham United at King Power Stadium on 4 April 2015 sparked a run of seven victories in the final nine matches and the Foxes escaped relegation.
Pearson was sacked that summer and replaced by Italian Claudio Ranieri, while the club’s Thai owners invested in a number of new players, including midfielder N'Golo Kanté, full-back Christian Fuchs, centre-back Robert Huth and centre-forward Shinji Okazaki.
That quartet bolstered a squad led by captain and centre-back Wes Morgan, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, winger Riyad Mahrez and striker Jamie Vardy, but bookmakers still rated Leicester 500/1 rank outsiders to win the Premier League title in 2015/16.
Incredibly, Leicester won the Premier League title in 2015/16. Schmeichel, Morgan and Huth were nigh-on impregnable, Kanté was unbeatable, Mahrez won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award and Vardy scored 24 goals and was named Footballer of the Year. Ranieri won four Manager of the Month and the Manager of the Season award.
The 2016/17 season saw Leicester struggle to retain their title – understandably – but the Foxes reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, beating Club Brugge, FC Porto and Sevilla along the way.
Ranieri was replaced midway through that campaign, and the club’s form tailed off under Craig Shakespeare and Frenchman Claude Puel, not helped by the sales of Kanté and Mahrez. However, the signings of Wilfred Ndidi, Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans and Youri Tielemans helped plug the gaps.
Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was appointed in February 2019 and the Northern Irishman oversaw another unforgettable period in the East Midlands club’s history.
Successive fifth-place Premier Leagues finish in 2019/20 and 2020/21 was followed by an FA Cup final victory over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in May 2021, where Tielemans scored a spectacular winner.
That victory was made all the more poignant as the Chairman who led Leicester’s rise, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, had died in a tragic helicopter crash after the Foxes’ Premier League fixture with West Ham in October 2018.
Leicester reached the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals in 2021/22, but struggled the following season and were relegated.
However, another Italian, Enzo Maresca, led the Foxes to the EFL Championship title last term and now it is the job of Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy to keep them in the Premier League.
Given what has gone before, Leicester City supporters are unlikely to bet against him doing so.
Previous Meetings…
West Ham United and Leicester City have met 33 times in the Premier League previously, with the Hammers winning 14, the Foxes 12 and seven draws.
Having won our first five Premier League home games against Leicester between 1994 and 1999, we have now won just four of our last eleven against the Foxes on home soil in the division, while Leicester have won each of their last three Premier League games against West Ham, more than they had in their previous ten beforehand (W2 D4 L4).
Leicester won the reverse fixture at King Power Stadium in December 2024, despite the Hammers having 31 shots in this match, their highest tally on record (since 2005/06) in a single Premier League fixture, to Leicester's eight, but left empty-handed as the Foxes somehow secured a 3-1 Premier League victory.
Prior to that, the Irons took four points from the Foxes in 2021/22, making it three wins in succession over them with a thumping 4-1 success in east London in our first home game of the campaign back in August 2021, then grabbing a dramatic 2-2 draw away from home in February 2022 thanks to Craig Dawson's added-time goal.
West Ham also did the Premier League double over Leicester in 2020/21, winning 3-0 at King Power Stadium in September 2020 and 3-2 at London Stadium in April 2021. Jarrod Bowen scored in both meetings, with Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio also on target at King Power Stadium and Jesse Lingard hitting the net twice on home turf.
In all competitions, West Ham’s biggest-ever league win over Leicester came in the promotion-winning 1922/23 season. The Hammers thrashed the Foxes 6-0 at Filbert Street on their way to the First Division on 15 February 1923, with Billy Moore scoring a hat-trick, and fellow England internationals Jimmy Ruffell and Jack Tresadern and Wales international Dick Richards also getting their names on the scoresheet. Leicester’s biggest win over West Ham came in the First Division on 15 September 1928, when the Foxes won 5-0 at Filbert Street.
Match Officials...
Referee: Stuart Attwell
Assistant Referees: Constantine Hatzidakis and Natalie Aspinall
Fourth Official: Rob Jones
VAR: Michael Salisbury
Assistant VAR: Simon Long
Stuart Attwell has been confirmed as the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League clash at home to Leicester City on Thursday night.
The 42-year-old became the-then youngest referee in Premier League history when, at 25, he took charge of Blackburn Rovers’ match against Hull City in August 2008.
He returned to the National List of Referees in 2012, but was promoted back to the Select Group for 2016/17 and earlier this season took charge of his 200th fixture in the English top flight.
Originally from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Attwell held the whistle during Liverpool’s penalty-shootout win over Chelsea in the 2022 EFL Cup final, and also oversaw Arsenal’s dramatic Community Shield victory over Manchester City in August 2023.
He was the man in the middle of our 0-0 home Premier League draw with Everton in November, and the narrow 2-1 defeat away at Chelsea earlier this month. In total, he has refereed 24 West Ham matches during his esteemed career, the first being a 1-0 Premier League victory away at Wigan Athletic in March 2009.
Those Everton and Chelsea clashes are two of 13 Premier League matches in which Attwell has held the whistle this season, while he has refereed in UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying, in the FA and EFL Cups, and in the EFL Championship during 2024/25, as well as on the international scene in the UEFA Nations League.
For more information about the officials, click HERE.
