- Slaven Bilic wary of resurgent Leicester City, who visit London Stadium on Saturday
- West Ham United manager says the Foxes have 'momentum'
- Bilic says Leicester's England international striker Jamie Vardy is back to his best
Slaven Bilic knows West Ham United will need to slow Leicester City’s lightning-quick counter-attacks if they are to floor the Foxes on Saturday.
The Hammers welcome Leicester to London Stadium for the first time seeking a first victory in five Premier League matches, while Craig Shakespeare’s side have won both top-flight games since the long-time assistant replaced Claudio Ranieri.
Those victories, as well as Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League Round of 16 success against Sevilla, were based on Leicester returning to the tactics which served them so well last season – namely, speedy counter-attacks and balls over the top and into space for Jamie Vardy to latch onto.
Bilic knows exactly what to expect from Leicester and their No9 this weekend, but stopping it will be an entirely different matter.
“They play very simple. They play like they did last year and also like they did also this season, but in another gear and tempo. Leicester plays very simple football but it’s very, very productive and that got them the title at the end of the day, so it was brilliant.
“Then they lost it in the second season and that happens because you are a little bit complacent and all that. You think you’re going to continue like that by default and it’s not uncommon that you can’t hit the same form with the same players and with the same style of play.
“Now, they simply continue now like they finished last season and it is electric and it is still going into spaces and getting second balls, quick attacks, good at set pieces offensively and defensively – which they weren’t defensively this season up until the game against Liverpool – and they are in a good moment.
“Now they have the momentum and of course they want to continue like that but, apart from the game against Bournemouth, we are also playing good and are expecting a lot from the game on Saturday.”
Leicester plays very simple football but it’s very, very productive and that got them the title at the end of the day, so it was brilliant
Slaven Bilic
The striker grabbed a vital away goal in Leicester’s Champions League triumph over Sevilla, scored twice in the 3-1 win over Liverpool three weeks ago, and has generally looked like the player who went from non-leaguer to England international in the space of three years.
“It was Vardy from last year [in the last three games],” Bilic observed. “You could see it was a copy and paste performance from him, but not only from him. Especially when you don’t have the ball, it is your strikers who are setting the tempo and pressing and timing and everything.
“It was not only against Sevilla but it was also straight away against Liverpool. He also looked really brilliant in that game and like the Vardy of last season, not only because he scored goals but his general performance.
“It was not only him, but the whole team, like I said.”