West Ham United vs Leicester City

Saturday 20th December 2014

15:00

Boleyn Ground

West Ham United vs Leicester City

Analysis

On Saturday afternoon West Ham will entertain a side who have lost their last seven away games in the league, a side who have not won in eleven league games, a side who have picked up two points since September.

Leicester City are the league's basement side going into this game. Only three teams have scored fewer goals, only one team has conceded more.

On paper, this is a game we should comfortably win. But the game isn't played on paper, is it?

Key Player

Despite their disappointing recent form, the Foxes have a number of players in their ranks who have the capability to win any game.

Jamie Vardy showed in their last victory (against Manchester United) that he can mix it with the best on his day, Leo Ulloa has only scored one goal less than Diafra Sakho, and Esteban Cambiasso has played for some of the biggest clubs in the world in his career.

In recent weeks though, there has been one man who has performed consistently for Leicester, and can be a thorn in the side of any fullback. Riyad Mahrez is one of few players in the squad to have continued in the same vein as last season.

The Algerian winger is creating more than a chance a game, has hit the target with 68% of his shots on goal, and has been successful with 50% of a massive 58 attempted take ons (this after just 12 appearances).

In their last game, a one nil defeat by the reigning champions, Mahrez was a box of tricks and full of attacking intent. On the day, he attempted a massive 11 take ons, and was successful with six of them (as shown in the image below).

http://epl.squawka.com/leicester-city-vs-manchester-city/

Whilst Mahrez is a clear threat going forward, his stats suggest that he is also a worker. In 12 appearances this season, the winger has attempted 46 tackles, winning 12 of them.

In the last away game the Foxes played, the visit to Villa Park, Mahrez attempted five tackles, made two interceptions and blocked three passes. The tackles are shown below.

http://epl.squawka.com/aston-villa-vs-leicester-city/

Leicester may not be the most dangerous side in the league, but with players like Mahrez in their ranks they will always be capable of springing a surprise and causing an upset.

How do you stop Leicester City?

Nigel Pearson has commonly gone for a 4-4-2 this season, with Ulloa and Vardy seemingly the preferred combination up top. He has mixed this up and played variations on the 4-5-1 on a few occasions, but according to WhoScored.com, the Foxes have gone with a traditional 4-4-2 9 times out of 16.

In the main strike pairing, Leicester have a traditional little and large combination, with Vardy the rapid, willing runner and Ulloa capable of giving any centre back a tough day at the office.

The image below shows the average positions of the Leicester side in the last two away games that Vardy and Ulloa have both started. What you can clearly see, is that Vardy (#9) pushing ahead of Ulloa (#23). This suggests that the Argentine drops off to win flick ons, whilst the Englishman runs ahead to pick up the loose ball.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/829653/

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/829720/

The way in which opposition defences have combated this approach is for one the centre backs to play relatively narrow, one to drop off slightly, and at least one central midfielder sitting slightly in front, anchoring the defence.

We can see this in both the Aston Villa and QPR line ups. 

For Villa, both Ciaran Clark (#6) and Jores Okore (#5) played close together with Okore ever so slightly deeper, whilst Ashley Westwood (#15) set in between in a holding midfield role.

For QPR, Nedum Onuoha (#15) dropped off even deeper, but was still close to Steven Caulker (#4), whilst Joey Barton (#8) marshaled the midfield.

If you compare this to the average positions of the Manchester United back line in that famous 5-3 win for the Foxes, you can see exactly what went wrong for Louis van Gaal's team.

Jonny Evans (#6) and Tyler Blackett (#42) both dropped off very deep, but were alone in this, as the rest of the side just went gung ho. Daley Blind (#17) was charged with anchoring the midfield, but you can see that he was far advanced from his colleagues. The gap between the centre backs was also very wide, allowing the likes of Vardy to run into space.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/829556/

Weakness

Leicester have a number of key weaknesses, that I've already highlighted. They don't score enough goals, they can't win away, and they concede far too many.

The most important of those is probably that defensive frailty. What is interesting about Leicester's defensive weakness, is that is not underpinned by poor mistakes. They rank 15th for defensive errors conceded (7 errors), and only two of those have led to goals.

That is less errors than the likes of Chelsea, Everton and Liverpool.

What this suggests though, is that Leicester concede goals not because of lapses in concentration or one person slipping up. Instead, they concede goals because they are not that good at the back.

This is borne out by WhoScored.com's statistically calculated team characteristics. According to WhoScored, Leicester's weakness include all manner of defensive vulnerabilities.

http://www.whoscored.com/Teams/14

In the league this season, no side has allowed the opposition more shots on their goal than Leicester, only one side has made more fouls per game, and only one side has conceded more goals.

Conclusion

This is a game West Ham should win.

Our home form has been terrific since we started the season with a hat-trick of defeats, with us winning 5 and drawing one of our subsequent matches at the Boleyn.

Leicester have players that can hurt us, and we should be mindful of that, but anything less than a home victory will be a disappointment.

 Head to Head 

40% Head to Head Win % 35%

51 Won 44

31 Drawn 31

44 Lost 51

208 Goals Scored 189

189 Goals Conceded 208

 Recent Form (excl. Friendlies) 

D L W W W D Last 6 L D L L L L

8 Goals Scored 4

5 Goals Conceded 11

  

W W W D W W Home/Away Form L L L L L L

11 Goals Scored 3

3 Goals Conceded 12

  

 Form Player (excl. GK) 

 (Last 6 League) 

James Tomkins - Marcin Wasilewski

5 Appearances 6

450 Minutes Played 540

  

38.1 Sum WhoScored Performance Score 43

7.6 Average WhoScored Performance Rating 7.2

  

145 Passes Attempted 119

104 Completed 80

72% Success Rate 67%

  

3 Chances Created 2

0 Assists 0

  

1 Attempts on Goal 5

1 On Target 0

1 Goals 0

1 Take Ons Attempted 0

1 Successful Take Ons 0

100% Success Rate 0%

  

14 Tackles Made 29

10 Successful Tackles 10

71% Success Rate 34%

  

10 Interceptions 19

45 Clearances 55

7 Blocks 5

12 Defensive Actions Per Game 13

  

30 Aerial Duels 30

24 Won 17

80% Success Rate 57%

0 Defensive Errors 0

0 Leading to a Goal 0

  

 Last Meeting 

23 April 2012

0-1 Jermaine Beckford 34'

1-1 Winston Reid 39'

2-1 Jack Collison 58'

  

4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-4-2

Robert Green - Kasper Schmeichel

(76') Guy Demel - Lee Peltier

James Tomkins - Sol Bamba

Winston Reid - Wes Morgan

Matthew Taylor - Paul Konchesky

Mark Noble - Ben Marshall

Gary O'Neil - Danny Drinkwater

Ricardo Vâz Te - Richard Wellens (22')

Kevin Nolan - Andy King (46')

(88') Jack Collison - Jermaine Beckford

(81') Carlton Cole - Dave Nugent (65')

 Subs 

(81') Danny Collins - Sean St Ledger (46')

Papa Bouba Diop - Lloyd Dyer (22')

(76') Julien Faubert - Steve Howard

(88') Henri Lansbury - Darius Vassell

Sam Baldock - Martyn Waghorn (65')

 Absentees 

 Injured/Doubtful 

West Ham United: Mark Noble

Leicester City: Kasper Schmeichel, Richie De Laet, Matthew Upson

 Suspensions 

West Ham United: 

Leicester City: 

  Opposition Last Time Out (League)

vs Manchester City

 Goals Scored: 0

 Goals Conceded: 1

 Starting Formation: 4-5-1

  Ben Hamer

  Danny Simpson  Marcin Wasilewski  Wes Morgan  Paul Konchesky

  Riyad Mahrez  Andy King  Esteban Cambiasso  Danny Drinkwater (79')  Jeff Schlupp (64')

  Jamie Vardy (73')

 subs:

Adam Smith

  Liam Moore

  Dean Hammond

  Matt James

  Nick Powell (73')

  Anthony Knockaert (79')

  Leonardo Ulloa (64')

  

 Best Player: Riyad Mahrez(SR: 7.3)

 Worst Player: Jeff Schlupp(SR: 6.1)

  

 Top 5's (Min 5 Apps) 

 Goals Scored 

Diafra Sakho 7 - 6 Leonardo Ulloa

Enner Valencia 3 - 2 Jeff Schlupp

Stewart Downing 3 - 2 Esteban Cambiasso

Mauro Zárate 2 - 1 Chris Wood

Carlton Cole 2 - 1 Dave Nugent

 Assists 

Stewart Downing 6 - 2 Jamie Vardy

Enner Valencia 2 - 1 Riyad Mahrez

Carl Jenkinson 2 - 1 Jeff Schlupp

Cheikhou Kouyaté 2 - 1 Leonardo Ulloa

James Tomkins 2 - 1 Ritchie De Laet

 Passing Accuracy 

Mark Noble 86% - 87% Andy King

Stewart Downing 85% - 85% Dean Hammond

Mauro Zárate 84% - 82% Matt James

Winston Reid 82% - 81% Danny Drinkwater

Kevn Nolan 82% - 81% Anthony Knockaert

 Chances Created per 90 

Stewart Downing 2.94 - 2.05 Matt James

Mauro Zárate 1.31 - 1.29 Esteban Cambiasso

Mark Noble 1.26 - 1.25 Leonardo Ulloa

Alex Song 1.22 - 1.24 Riyad Mahrez

Aaron Cresswell 1.06 - 1.13 Marc Albrighton

 Successful Dribbles per 90 

Mauro Zárate 2.4 - 2.99 Riyad Mahrez

Enner Valencia 1.71 - 1.99 Jeff Schlupp

Alex Song 1.67 - 1.53 Anthony Knockaert

Diafra Sakho 1.38 - 1.5 Jamie Vardy

Morgan Amalfitano 0.88 - 1.4 Danny Drinkwater

 Tackles Won per 90 

Alex Song 2.67 - 3.4 Marc Albrighton

Mark Noble 2.62 - 2.86 Ritchie De Laet

James Tomkins 2.48 - 2.46 Andy King

Cheikhou Kouyaté 1.62 - 2.33 Danny Drinkwater

Carl Jenkinson 1.6 - 1.99 Jeff Schlupp

 Aerial Duels Won per 90 

Andy Carroll 12.38 - 9 Chris Wood

James Collins 4.82 - 3.99 Leonardo Ulloa

James Tomkins 4.17 - 3.4 Wes morgan

Diafra Sakho 3.45 - 3.22 Dave Nugent

Carlton Cole 3.17 - 2.86 Marcin Wasilewski

 Manager 

Sam Allardyce - Nigel Pearson

19/10/1954 DOB 21/08/1963

60 Age 51

  

 Playing Career 

Bolton Wanderers Main Club Shrewsbury Town

231 Appearances 184

24 Goals 5

  

9 Total Clubs 3

512 Appearances 479

43 Goals 24

  

England National Team England

0 Caps 0

  

 Managerial Career 

Preston North End First Managerial Role Carlisle United

30/09/1992 Start Date 17/12/1998

22y 2m 19d Experience 16y 0m 3d

  

7 Sides Managed 7

2 League Titles 2

0 Cup Wins 0

  

39.9% Win % 43.1%

357 Won 164

235 Drawn 107

302 Lost 109

  

 Longest Role (excl. Current) 

Bolton Wanderers Club Leicester City

19/10/1999 Appointed 20/06/2008

29/04/2007 Left 29/06/2010

7y 6m 9d Time in Charge 2y 0m 8d

0 League Titles 1

0 Cup Wins 0

  

41.2% Win % 51.4%

153 Won 55

104 Drawn 30

114 Lost 22

  

 Current Job 

01/06/2011 Appointed 15/11/2011

3y 6m 19d Time in Charge 3y 1m 4d

  

0 League Titles 1

0 Cup Wins 0

  

40.9% Win % 47.1%

63 Won 74

36 Drawn 34

55 Lost 49

Stoke City vs West Ham United

Saturday 1st November 2014

15:00

Britannia Stadium

Stoke City vs West Ham United

Analysis

The longer our good streak continues the longer I'll be saying it, but this is a weekend where we will learn a lot about this West Ham side.

After defeating the reigning Champions last weekend, we now head over to the Potteries for the sort of test that many pretenders to the top half will crumble at.

Stoke have always been a very good side at the Britannia, incredibly difficult to beat, very physical, and capable of punishing teams.

This will be a tough game for West Ham, and one we would do very well to get something out of.

Key Player

Stoke are a side without any real stars or obvious stand out players.

Marko Arnautovic and Victor Moses can both be potent attacking sources, but are also a bit hit and miss. Ryan Shawcross and Marc Wilson are developing a formidable partnership in the heart of defence, whilst Glenn Whelan and Charlie Adam are both underrated midfielders in this division, capable of picking passes and mixing it in defence.

However, arguably the most talented player at the club is Bosnian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

The former Portsmouth goalkeeper has been a consistently outstanding performer since moving to Stoke in 2010 as a 23 year old, and is now regularly linked with moves to some of Europe's top clubs - Juventus and Real Madrid have been mentioned in recent months.

What has been particularly impressive about Begovic, is his desire to claim balls into the box. Many goalkeepers struggle with crosses and long balls in the air, not knowing whether to come and catch, to punch, or to back off and leave it to somebody else. Begovic doesn't seem to have that issue, as he comes and catches as much as possible.

The chart below shows his successful and unsuccessful claims since the start of the 2012/13 season. Over that time, Begovic has claimed a remarkable 232 balls into the box, 2.9 per game, with an astounding success rate of 97%. 

But the Bosnian is more than just a presence in the air. He is also a fantastic shot stopper, saving points for Stoke on many occasions.

The images below shows the saves Begovic has made since the start of last season. You can see that he has made 79 saves in 41 appearances, at a rate of 1.93 per game. In this time, he has kept 11 clean sheets (one every 3.7 games), and has conceded 46 goals (1.12 per game).

http://www.squawka.com/players/asmir-begovic/

Stoke's defence has a reputation for being pretty impenetrable at times, but the real challenge is once you get past the back four and come face to face with one of the best goalkeepers in the modern game. 

How do you stop Stoke?

Stoke are a side that tend to pick up the majority of their points at home, with the Britannia becoming a bit of a fortress since they were promoted to the Premier League.

This season though, they have played four home league games, winning and losing two a piece, and have also lost a Capital One Cup game there (to Southampton on Wednesday night).

So, how did Aston Villa and Leicester City head home from one of the most notoriously difficult away fixtures with three points each, and a clean sheet?

Let's start with the clean sheets. Stoke have a reputation for getting the ball into the box quickly, either via long balls into a target man, or through utilising wingplay. In order to deal with the onslaught of balls into the box, both Villa and Leicester made a large number of clearances from within their own box.

The images below show Villa's 32 clearances (left) and Leicester's 50 (right). You'll notice that a large number of clearances are marked with blue arrows on the images. This denotes a headed clearance, demonstrating that Stoke often go for aerial balls into the box, particularly when chasing a game.

http://epl.squawka.com/stoke-city-vs-aston-villa/

http://epl.squawka.com/stoke-city-vs-leicester-city/

In attack both teams, again, took a similar approach.

Although Stoke possess one of the most resolute defences in the division, they do not possess much pace. As a result, Villa and Leicester attempted a high volume of take ons in attacking areas, isolated defenders and running at them.

The images below again show Villa on the left, and Leicester on the right.

You'll notice that, Villa attempted a higher number within the penalty area, whilst Leicester operated outside the box and down the flanks.

For Villa's goal, both Charles N'Zogbia and Andreas Weimann took on defenders, bundling through tackles on the way to Weimann scoring. And for Leicester's goal, the Foxes worked the ball wide to Paul Konchesky who rolled across the six yard box for Leonardo Ulloa to tap in.

Both goals were indicative of the approaches taken: run at them with speed, and get the ball into the box. This is a tactic that should suit West Ham's current approach to the game, and one that will hopefully pay dividend for the Hammers.

Weaknesses

I've already mentioned the lack of pace in defence for Stoke, but that is something that they actually cope with rather well generally, so isn't their main weakness.

The area of the game the Potters most struggle with is at the other end of the pitch, and putting the ball in the back of the net.

Stoke tend to play with a variation on the 4-3-3 formation, with one striker and a couple of wingers. This season, their main six forwards have attempted 44 shots between them in 9 appearances - a combined rate of 4.9 shots per game.

However, they have only hit the target with 32% of those shots, and have scored just 5 goals between them, at a conversion rate of just 11%.

It is an issue that Stoke have experienced in the past, but one that Mark Hughes probably felt he had addressed last season. Last year, Stoke were the 10th highest scoring side in the division. So far this season, they are down to 15th.

It is still early in the season and, of course, all of this could change, but as it stands Stoke are struggling to put the ball in the back of the net.

Conclusion

An away trip to the Potteries is never easy.

West Ham will have a serious job on to get through a very successful defence and talented goalkeeper, and will have to deal with a couple of tricky customers at the other end too.

Coming away with anything will be a very good return, and a victory would be a massive achievement.

But optimism is high in East London, and let's hope that con continue after the weekend.

 Head to Head 

37% Head to Head Win % 40%

33 Won 36

21 Drawn 21

36 Lost 33

106 Goals Scored 129

129 Goals Conceded 106

 Recent Form (excl. Friendlies) 

W W L W L L Last 6 D W L W W W

10 Goals Scored 13

9 Goals Conceded 6

  

L W L W W L Home/Away Form L L W D L W

8 Goals Scored 9

6 Goals Conceded 9

  

 Form Player (excl. GK) 

 (Last 6 League) 

Victor Moses - Stewart Downing

6 Appearances 6

540 Minutes Played 540

  

161 Sum Squawka Performance Score 213

27 Average Squawka Performance Rating 36

  

107 Passes Attempted 272

89 Completed 232

83% Success Rate 85%

  

14 Chances Created 20

3 Assists 3

  

7 Attempts on Goal 8

4 On Target 3

0 Goals 0

36 Take Ons Attempted 9

21 Successful Take Ons 5

58% Success Rate 56%

  

16 Tackles Made 9

10 Successful Tackles 3

63% Success Rate 33%

  

6 Interceptions 3

4 Clearances 9

0 Blocks 0

2 Defensive Actions Per Game 2

  

10 Aerial Duels 2

2 Won 1

20% Success Rate 50%

0 Defensive Errors 0

0 Leading to a Goal 0

  

 Last Meeting 

11 May 2014

0-1 Andy Carroll 5'

1-1 Peter Odemwingie 32'

2-1 Marko Arnautovic 69'

3-1 Peter Odemwingie 79

4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1

Asmir Begovic - Adrián

Geoff Cameron - Guy Demel

Ryan Shawcross - James Tomkins

Marc Wilson - Winston Reid

(14') Erik Pieters - George McCartney

Steven N'Zonzi - Mark Noble

Glenn Whelan - Antonio Nocerino (76')

Peter Odemwingie - Stewart Downing (62')

Stephen Ireland - Kevin Nolan

Marko Arnautovic - Mohamed Diamé

Peter Crouch - Andy Carroll (83')

 Subs 

Thomas Sorenson - Jussi Jääskeläinen

Ryan Shotton - James Collins

(14') Marc Muniesa - Pablo Armero (83')

Andy Wilkinson - Matthew Taylor

Wilson Palacios - Matt Jarvis

Matthew Etherington - Joe Cole (62')

John Guidetti - Carlton Cole (76')

 Absentees 

 Injured/Doubtful 

Stoke City: Robert Huth, Glenn Whelan, Peter Odemwingie

West Ham United: Gey Demel, Mauro Zárate, Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho

 Suspensions 

Stoke City: Phil Bardsley, Peter Crouch

West Ham United: 

  Opposition Last Time Out (League)

vs Southampton

 Goals Scored: 0

 Goals Conceded: 1

 Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1

  Asmir Begovic

  Phil Bardsley  Ryan Shawcross  Marc Wilson  Erik Pieters

  Steven N'Zonzi  Charlie Adam (53')

  Jonathan Walters (69')  Geoff Cameron  Victor Moses (79')

  Peter Crouch

 subs:

Thomas Sorenson

  Robert Huth

  Steve Sidwell

  Oussama Assaidi (79')

  Marko Arnautovic (69')

  Bojan Krkic

  Mame Biram Diouf (53')

  

 Best Player: Phil Bardsley(SR: 7.6)

 Worst Player: Oussama Assaidi(SR: 5.9)

  

 Top 5's (Min 5 Apps) 

 Goals Scored 

Charlie Adam 2 - 6 Diafra Sakho

Mame Biram Diouf 2 - 2 Carlton Cole

Jonathan Walters 2 - 2 Enner Valencia

Peter Crouch 1 - 2 Morgan Amalfitano

Ryan Shawcross 1 - 1 Mauro Zárate

 Assists 

Victor Moses 3 - 3 Stewart Downing

Oussama Assaidi 1 - 2 James Tomkins

Erik Pieters 1 - 2 Aaron Cresswell

Peter Crouch 1 - 1 Mauro Zárate

                         - 1 Carl Jenkinson

 Passing Accuracy 

Oussama Assaidi 89% - 87% Mark Noble

Glenn Whelan 89% - 86% Carl Jenkinson

Steven N'Zonzi 85% - 84% Winston Reid

Victor Moses 83% - 84% Alex Song

Erik Pieters 83% - 83% Stewart Downing

 Chances Created per 90 

Marko Arnautovic 2.41 - 2.56 Stewart Downing

Victor Moses 2 - 1.44 Aaron Cresswell

Glenn Whelan 1.15 - 1.43 Mark Noble

Peter Crouch 0.94 - 0.8 Alex Song

Steven N'Zonzi 0.89 - 0.65 Diafra Sakho

 Successful Dribbles per 90 

Victor Moses 4 - 2 Enner Valencia

Steven N'Zonzi 2.77 - 1.07 Morgan Amalfitano

Marko Arnautovic 2.18 - 1 Alex Song

Jonathan Walters 2.17 - 0.95 Cheikhou Kouyaté

Mame Biram Diouf 2.11 - 0.71 Mark Noble

 Tackles Won per 90 

Charlie Adam 4 - 2.85 Cheikhou Kouyaté

Oussama Assaidi 2.77 - 2.81 Alex Song

Erik Pieters 2.18 - 2.43 Mark Noble

Victor Moses 2.17 - 1.62 Diafra Sakho

Phil Bardsley 2.11 - 1.32 Carl Jenkinson

 Aerial Duels Won per 90 

Peter Crouch 8.56 - 3.55 Diafra Sakho

Jonathan Walters 3.81 - 3.5 James Tomkins

Ryan Shawcross 3.56 - 3.33 Winston Reid

Marc Wilson 3.11 - 2.85 Cheikhou Kouyaté

Erik Pieters 2.89 - 2.09 Carlton Cole

 Manager 

Mark Hughes - Sam Allardyce

01/11/1963 DOB 19/10/1954

50 Age 60

  

 Playing Career 

Manchester United Main Club Bolton Wanderers

473 Appearances 231

163 Goals 24

  

7 Total Clubs 9

799 Appearances 512

224 Goals 43

  

Wales National Team England

72 Caps 0

  

 Managerial Career 

Wales First Managerial Role Preston North End

04/08/1999 Start Date 30/09/1992

15y 2m 21d Experience 22y 0m 24d

  

6 Sides Managed 7

0 League Titles 2

0 Cup Wins 0

  

38.2% Win % 39.9%

164 Won 354

113 Drawn 232

152 Lost 301

  

 Longest Role (excl. Current) 

Blackburn Rovers Club Bolton Wanderers

15/09/2004 Appointed 19/10/1999

03/06/2008 Left 29/04/2007

3y 8m 17d Time in Charge 7y 6m 9d

0 League Titles 0

0 Cup Wins 0

  

43.6% Win % 41.2%

82 Won 153

47 Drawn 104

59 Lost 114

  

 Current Club 

30/05/2013 Appointed 01/06/2011

1y 4m 26d Time in Charge 3y 4m 24d

  

0 League Titles 0

0 Cup Wins 0

  

38.1% Win % 40.4%

21 Won 59

14 Drawn 33

20 Lost 54