- Leicester City visit West Ham United on Saturday in the Premier League (3pm BST kick-off)
- This week's Opposition View comes from Sam Inkersole at Football.London
- Inkersole believes Hammers supporters will be disappointed to be on the edge of the race for seventh
- However, the final fixtures of the season give them a chance to end the season on a high, he says
Leicester City are the visitors for a 3pm BST kick-off and Brendan Rodgers’ side will be hoping to earn another three points to strengthen their seventh-place standing in the Premier League.
Ahead of the clash, Inkersole spoke to LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live show, which airs from 2pm BST, after the Pre-Match Pint, to provide his preview of the clash.
“Seventh place seems to be out of reach now (for West Ham) and they knew that could be the case with the pretty brutal run of fixtures they’ve had,” he said.
“They’ve played Chelsea and Manchester United in the last two games and still got Spurs on the horizon as well – and Leicester, who are very much battling for seventh place.
“The danger is that the season could fizzle out into nothing and it’s about finishing as high in the table as they can because Europe is a bit far out of the question, in my own opinion.”
However, he still believes that Pellegrini’s men will be determined to finish the season on a high note and secure a place - at least - in the top-10 to build upon during the 2019/20 campaign.
“If they had any sort of consistency this season, they could have had that seventh-place spot wrapped up by now, but they haven’t had that throughout the campaign,” he added.
“I still think a top-10 finish would represent a successful season and it’s nice not being in a relegation battle for a change.
“However, there is a lot more expected, especially considering the outlay in the summer, and considering where the team were at the end of 2018, but 2019 just hasn’t been as good.
“West Ham have improved at home drastically and they played really well against Manchester United, so they will take some confidence into the Leicester game.”
Ahead of the test against City, Inkersole says one point of intrigue could be the tactical battle between Rodgers and Pellegrini.
He continued: “I think Leicester have got far more to play for than West Ham do, but the home side will want to put on a display for the fans after a couple of rough away days.
“It won’t be a defensive game, I’m pretty sure of that, and there could be a few goals.
“I’m interested to see how Brendan Rodgers shapes up his Leicester team but they’ve obviously been on a great run since he joined.
“It could be an interesting tactical battle and I’m expecting goals.”