It’s win or bust for Leicester City this week as they take on a resurgent West Ham United.
Leicester suffered an embarrassing defeat to the hands of Brentford last Friday whereas West Ham put a huge dent in Arsenal’s title hopes with a 1-0 victory.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer think Leicester are already relegated with 12 games to go and could find themselves eight points off safety if Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Fulham tonight.
There have also been calls from Foxes fans to sack Ruud van Nistelrooy in response to the alarming run of form that has seen them lose 10 of their last 11 Premier League games.
However, there’s no time to reflect on the past as Leicester prepare for another survival mission to end the season.
Ahead of the game, Paul Merson and Chris Sutton gave their thoughts on how the game at the London Stadium would pan out.
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Chris Sutton and Paul Merson agree on West Ham vs Leicester prediction
A win on Thursday would be the first time Leicester have done the double over a Premier League side this season.
It was actually Van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge of the Foxes as Leicester beat West Ham 3-1.
That seemed like the spark that would light up Leicester’s season but it’s about as good as it got as form has flown off a cliff.
Leicester’s recent form has been taken into account by Sutton and Merson for their prediction, who both think a West Ham win is inevitbale.
Sutton said West Ham will win 2-0, writing on BBC: “This is a gimme for West Ham, and it should be a routine victory for them.
“I just cannot make a case for Leicester to get anything here and it looks like their hopes of staying up have had it too.”
Merson has also predicted a 2-0 win for the hosts, despite admitting they will find it tougher than their weekend win against Arsenal.
Writing in his Sportskeeda column, he said: “West Ham have had a tough season and that win against Arsenal is a huge boost. They are good at playing teams that force them to it back and play out on the counter. But, in games where they are forced to take the initiative, I worry for West Ham.
“I expect Leicester to have a tough run now. Honestly, I don’t see them avoiding the drop.”
Paul Merson surprised Leicester City haven’t sacked Ruud van Nistelrooy
Merson has long been critical of Leicester and said they have been going down for a while.
Van Nistelrooy’s record is now worse than Steve Cooper’s and a one-way ticket to the Championship does seem inevitable.
Question marks over the Leicester manager’s future have arisen, with some suggesting that former player Richie Wellens could be a good Van Nistelrooy replacement.
Right now though, it seems that the Dutchman will be at the King Power Stadium for a while longer, but Merson can’t understand why.
He said: “I’m surprised that Ruud van Nistelrooy is still the manager at Leicester. If they want to back him for the long run, it makes sense. But if they want to get rid of him, why are they holding back?
“Clearly there isn’t much improvement and they are only five points away from safety. Everton have already proved that a good appointment can turn things around so why aren’t Leicester taking that chance?”