Leicester City Match Preview

Throughout his time at West Ham United, David Moyes is yet to lose to a team managed by Dean Smith and he will hope that statistic is extended this afternoon when the Hammers face Smith’s Leicester City side at The King Power Stadium to conclude their 2022/23 fixture programme.

This is the second consecutive week that Moyes will face a temporary manager, as Smith replaced former Watford, Swansea City and Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers back in April.

It wasn’t too long ago that the Irons were in a similar position to where the Foxes currently find themselves but having secured their own top-flight status before last weekend’s home encounter with Leeds United, they can have a huge say in the battle to stay in the Premier League by clinching another three points here.

Going back to 12 November and the match before the season paused for the Qatar World Cup, Rodgers led his side to a 2-0 victory over the Irons in Stratford, meaning the hosts are on course to do the double over the East Londoners.

Away wins have been hard to come by for West Ham this season but they will be hoping to claim just their fourth here, which will stand them in good stead for the UEFA Europa Conference League Final against ACF Fiorentina in Prague on Wednesday June 7.

For the first time since March, the Irons have had a full week to prepare for this encounter and while they will want to try and get a victory to end the campaign, they will still have one eye on “that” big night in Prague.

Before the game with Leeds United last Sunday, the Hammers moved up to fourteenth place in the table and if they were to beat Smith’s side here, they would climb further and finish in thirteenth position.

Nayef Aguerd has recovered from the knock that kept him out of the match against Sam Allardyce’s side last time out, meaning he will be back in contention for a start here, while Manuel Lanzini, Ben Johnson, Michail Antonio, Maxwel Cornet and Saïd Benrahma are all available, should the Scotsman decide to make changes to his starting line-up.

All of the final day matches kick-off at 4:30pm and the encounter at The King Power Stadium is one of three that will be screened live by Sky Sports. Simon Hooper will be in charge for this fixture.