West Ham take on Leicester City in the Premier League with manager Julen Lopetegui’s job very much on the line.
It has been claimed Julen Lopetegui could be axed by West Ham if they lose to Leicester.
With new Foxes boss Ruud van Nistelrooy taking charge of his first game, there are plenty of sub-plots to the Premier League clash.
Especially as Van Nistelrooy was named as a serious contender for the West Ham job by a journalist durinhg the international break.
The Hammers elected to stick by Lopetegui.
But the shambolic nature of the 5-2 defeat to Arsenal has raised fresh doubts whether the Spaniard is the right man for the job.
The fact West Ham are clear favourites to win the game only turns the heat up further on Lopetegui.
The Hammers have a far superior squad to the Foxes, who are one of three teams with a worse defensive record than them this season.
West Ham’s owners and fans are fully expecting to see the team win at the King Power.
Simply put, defeat doesn’t even bear thinking about for the 58-year-old Irons boss.
Four top pundits heap pressure on Lopetegui with predictions
Especially after West Ham’s owners described the next two games as “massive”.
Lopetegui is fooling nobody by insisting West Ham will have their work cut out to beat Leicester.
Now four top pundits have heaped pressure on Lopetegui with their West Ham vs Leicester predictions.
While the Hammers boss has been playing down his team’s chances and talking up Van Nistelrooy and the new manager bounce, some Premier League experts have been having their say.
Mark Lawrenson, the ‘magic man’ Paul Merson, BBC’s Chris Sutton and Sky Sports’ leading football expert Lewis Jones have all stated Lopetegui is under pressure to win the game to keep his job.
Three of them are predicting that will happen – which only serves to turn up the heat if the Hammers don’t get a victory on the road.
Sutton says Leicester is “massive” for Lopetegui
Sutton says Leicester ‘feels like a massive game for Lopetegui’ and hears he is ‘back under scrutiny’ following the Arsenal drubbing.
But he thinks unconvincing West Ham have better attacking players who, coupled with Leicester’s shocking defence, will make the difference.
“Both teams were beaten heavily at the weekend and this feels like a massive game for West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, who is back under scrutiny again after such a big defeat at home by Arsenal,” Sutton told BBC Sport, predicting a 2-1 win for the Hammers.
“What might help him here is how bad Leicester are defensively. This is Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge of the Foxes so you would expect King Power Stadium to be rocking, but that will not help them keep the Hammers out.
“I am not convinced by West Ham in any way, shape or form at the moment but they have attacking players who can hurt Leicester, and that will get them the win Lopetegui needs.”
Sky Sports man predicts goal-fest in West Ham’s favour
Lewis Jones is Sky Sports’ leading football analyst. In his column Jones Knows, he questioned the appointment of Van Nistelrooy.
And Jones believes West Ham will edge a game with plenty of goals.
“Ruud van Nistelrooy has to be one of the strangest appointments in Premier League history – it may well work but the process to him getting this job is borderline farcical,” Jones said.
“Has he been hired purely on his streaky run as Manchester United’s caretaker boss? It’s all a bit odd as his time at PSV was underwhelming, and I could probably name 20 managers that have earned a crack at a Premier League job like this.
“There could be a short-term bounce but Leicester’s defence simply isn’t up to this standard, and Van Nistelrooy is an attack-minded boss that will struggle to solve the issues. Leicester have shipped 27 goals in 13 games and despite their own issues in defence, West Ham will fancy their chances of scoring multiple times in what could be a goal-fest. 3-2 to West Ham.”
‘West Ham nowhere near good enough’ says Merson
Merson says West Ham have been nowhere near good enough under Lopetegui.
And he believes they may already only have an FA Cup run to focus on.
Merson believes Leicester are worse, though, and that the Hammers will take advantage.
“I have watched Leicester so many times this season and they are just not good enough,” Merson told Sportskeeda predicting a 2-1 win for West Ham.
“When they get beat, they are well beaten and that’s a big problem if you’re a newly-promoted side.
“Ruud van Nistelrooy has a big task at hand now. Don’t get me wrong, he had to take that job when it came up but I they still have very little chance of staying up.“
“West Ham got blown away in 30 minutes against Arsenal. Those two goals may have papered over the cracks a little bit, but they are not out of the woods yet. If they were able to put in a performance like the one against Newcastle, they wouldn’t have lost in my opinion.
“I still can’t see West Ham losing this game, l’d be shocked if that happened.
“Julen Lopetegui needs to string together a few results in the league and then West Ham can probably focus on a cup run. That should be their objective from here on in the season.
“There is no doubt that West Ham are in a bit of trouble now though. They will be safe in the end, but that’s just not good enough if you’re West Ham in my opinion.“
Lawro predicts draw which will put Hammers boss on brink
Lawrenson, famed in his BBC days for rarely backing West Ham to win, has been true to form.
He believes the best the Hammers can do is a 1-1 draw.
If that is the case and West Ham don’t beat Wolves at home, Lopetegui will likely get the sack.
“Obviously, this is Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge at Leicester, and it can’t come soon enough as I thought they were naive at the weekend and paid for it,” Lawrenson said.
“Steve Cooper wasn’t a popular choice there as they have a rivalry with Forest, and it felt like they were waiting for him to slip up and they’d sack him.
“He’s been treated quite badly, though it tells you a lot that Jamie Vardy is still the best player they’ve got and he’ll be up for his pension soon!
“West Ham were battered by Arsenal, which often seems to happen when they go there. Julen Lopetegui is also under massive pressure, though, and I can see this playing out as a draw.”
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