Leicester take on West Ham this weekend in the Premier League’s evening kick off on Saturday. The Foxes have played very well in parts this season, and probably should be a little higher up the table based on their performances. They have to turn that into points of course, which will be their aim for the next few weeks.

West Ham struggled at the start of the season before coming to life in three very tough games. They won away at Everton before drawing at home to Chelsea and beating Manchester United, also at home. That form has since disappeared though, and they come here on the back of two 1-0 defeats to Brighton and Tottenham. With just seven points on the board, West Ham are only two points clear of the bottom three, they have the talent to turn this around, but there is clearly something preventing the players from playing to their full potential right now.

This looks as though it could be a game full of attacking play, both teams like to go forward and they both have attacking players that have the ability to create goal scoring chances. Leicester are the better team, and also the home team so they are the ones that interest me this week, in fact, I make them the bet of the weekend in the Premier League.

Leicester Key to Future England Success

Jamie Vardy put Leicester on the map as far as England call ups go and he went on to play and score fro England on numerous occasions. However, after the success of Vardy we could be seeing even more from Leicester in terms or supporting and providing players for the national team. England boss Gareth Southgate has gone out of his way to give youngsters the opportunity to shine, and he is prepared to give anyone a chance, regardless of the club they play for and the league they are in.

Southgate overhauled the England setup with the 2018 World Cup in mind, but he wanted his squad to be young enough so that they could all fight for a place in the 2022 World Cup squad. That brought about many changes and one player to really benefit from that ahead fo the World Cup was Harry Maguire. The 25 year old became a starter in Southgate’s back three and went on to have a terrific World Cup, something that led to interest in him from Manchester United. No deal went through, Maguire has told people that he is happy at Leicester and he has recently signed a new deal to stay at the club for a further five years. He is key to Leicester, and key to England going forward.

It looks as though a couple more players could be joining him from Leicester over the next few months if they manage to win the battle for an England squad place. Since the World Cup, Southgate has given more youngsters the opportunity to shine for England and two of those youngsters are Ben Chilwell and James Maddison. These two are both just 21 years old, and have very bright futures both on a domestic level for Leicester and on the international stage for England.

Chilwell in particular looks to have a great chance of cementing his position as the number one left back, with few other options for Southgate to choose from. He has played well for Leciester so far, and took international football in his stride. While James Maddison is arguably a brighter talent than Chilwell, he may struggle to find a place in what is an already crowded attacking line up. England have a lot of options and while Maddison will likely be around the squad and given a chance in friendlies, he doesn’t look ready to crack the starting line up just yet.

Despite Jamie Vardy retiring from international football to allow youngsters the chance to shine, Leicester City look as though they will have three players in the England international squad going forward. With Maguire the oldest at just 25, there is a lot to be excited about for the future of Leicester football club, and that will only aid England’s chances too.

Off Field Problems Continue to Plague West Ham

Since moving to the Olympic Stadium, there has been nothing but problems off the field for West Ham. They are sill facing criticism for the most and the cost to the general public, and that is something that looks unlikely to go away any time soon. While these problems do not affect the playing side of the club, it seems pretty obvious that they are having an affect on things.

West Ham should be a lot higher in the table than they are right now with the quality they have in their squad. The same was said last season too, when they struggled to put wins together and generally disappointed, something that led to fan protests and pitch invasions inside the stadium. Whatever the problems are, they must be rectified as soon as possible, if not this situation is only going to get worse. West Ham have a squad capable of finishing mid-table, but right now they have so many problems surrounding them that relegation is a real possibility.

Whatever the problems are at West Ham, for the sake of their players and everything that happens on the field, they have to sort them out.

Leicester vs West Ham Betting Tips

There is a lot to like about this Leicester team, and they will probably be disappointed that they aren’t a little higher in the table after some decent performances this season. The same cannot be said about West Ham, who have the squad to be higher, but continue to struggle and be affected by problems off the field at the club. There is a lot going off at West Ham right now, and it is certainly not helping the situation, something they need to rectify as soon as possible.

With home advantage and coming here on the back of a decent performance despite a loss against Arsenal, I am backing Leicester to win the game on Saturday evening. They have the quality to beat West Ham and with The Hammers struggling for form there looks to be even more between these two based on that.

This should be an attacking game, with plenty of chances for both teams but I am backing Leicester to take theirs and win this game. Should other results go their way, Leicester will find themselves in the top half of the table with a win here, and that is where I expect to see them stay, they are better than their current points total shows.

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