The major points for discussion ahead of the New Year’s Eve trip to King Power Stadium...
History repeating?
Turn the clock back a little under three years to 29 January 2014 and West Ham United sat 18th in the table.
A hard-earned draw at one of the Premier League’s top clubs – Chelsea, whose manager Jose Mourinho accused the Hammers of playing ‘19th-century football’ afterwards – sparked a run of victories that carried West Ham up the standings.
Wins over Swansea City, Aston Villa, Norwich City, all by a 2-0 scoreline, and a 3-1 success against Southampton had Sam Allardyce’s tenth by 22 February.
Fast forward to 11 December 2016 and West Ham United sat 18th in the table.
A hard-earned draw at one of the Premier League’s top clubs – in this case, Liverpool – sparked a run of victories that carried West Ham up the standings.
Wins over Burnley, Hull City and Swansea have the Hammers up to eleventh, and a win at Leicester City on New Year’s Eve could place them tenth come the first day of 2017!
Foxhunter
Andy Carroll enjoyed another productive day against Swansea City on Boxing Day, scoring for the fifth time in six appearances against the Welsh side.
On New Year’s Eve, he faces another of his ‘favourite’ opponents, statistically at least.
The No9 has scored on each of his two Premier League appearances against the Leicester City – a 2-1 win at the Boleyn Ground in December 2014 and 2-2 draw at King Power Stadium in April 2016.
Fit and in form, Carroll will be seeking to complete another hat-trick of sorts when he steps out against the Foxes and their formidable centre-half pairing of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan on Saturday.
Champions dethtroned
Last May, Chelsea set an unwanted record. This May, Leicester City look set to break it.
The Blues ended the 2015/16 season tenth in the Premier League table, the lowest-ever finishing position for a club defending the title.
The Foxes are 18 games into their own defence and sit 16th in the table, just three points above the relegation zone.
Ayew or Lanzini?
Andre Ayew netted his first West Ham United goal and produced arguably his best performance in Claret and Blue against his former club on Boxing Day.
Now, however, Argentinean Manuel Lanzini is fit again after recovering from an abdominal injury.
When he has been available, Lanzini has been a regular starter for Slaven Bilic, so the manager has a selection decision to make for the New Year’s Eve trip to Leicester City.
With Ayew soon to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations and Monday’s Premier League home game with Manchester United to bear in mind, the Ghanaian may keep his place at the King Power Stadium. Alternatively, Bilic could opt to recall his diminutive No10.
No Vardy, no party?
Leicester City will be without their suspended England striker Jamie Vardy on Saturday, as the No9 is serving the second match of a three-game ban.
Without Vardy for the first time this Premier League season on Boxing Day, the Foxes were beaten 2-0 at home by Everton.
The 29-year-old’s pace, commitment and goalscoring played a huge role in Leicester’s title win last season, stretching opposing defences on a weekly basis, and his absence robs Claudio Ranieri’s side of that dimension to their play.
Algeria international Islam Slimani and Japan forward Shinji Okazaki are more physical, less mobile forwards, and one of them is set to lead the Leicester line, with wingers Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton supplying the deliveries from wide areas.
Ranieri has one other option who has attributes more similar to Vardy’s in Nigerian Ahmed Musa.