Schmeichel Braced For West Ham Challenge

First Team
19 Apr 2019
2 Minutes
Kasper Schmeichel says Leicester City are expecting West Ham United to be at their ‘absolute best’ when the Foxes travel to London Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off).

- Leicester City visit West Ham United in the Premier League (3pm BST kick-off)
- The Foxes are currently sat in seventh-place in the top flight standings
- Kasper Schmeichel says City are expecting a tough encounter with the Hammers
- Live and free coverage is available on LCFC Radio from 1pm BST on Saturday

Brendan Rodgers’ men have won four of their six matches since the Northern Irishman took charge in February – and could strengthen their seventh-place standing with a win in the capital.

The Hammers, meanwhile, are sat 11th in the Premier League and won their last home outing, a 4-3 triumph over Huddersfield Town last month. 

Speaking ahead of the clash, Schmeichel said: “Tough game, it’s always a tough game there. I think they’ve been a little bit hot and cold this season, you don’t always know what to expect 

“We’re expecting the worst, we’re expecting them to be at their absolute best.

“It’s a tough place to go, a different place to most other stadiums in the Premier League, so a different kind of proposition for us and a team that, when they hit form, they’re very, very good.”

Speaking more generally about City’s progress under Rodgers’ management, Schmeichel says there is a real optimism at the Club about what the team could achieve in future.

“I think we’ve made some good progress,” he added. “We are adapting to [Rodgers'] style really well and I’m very encouraged by the progress that we’ve made and I think we will only get better.”

However, the Denmark goalkeeper says the Foxes need to play with more ‘purpose’ after having 72 per cent in last Friday’s 1-0 defeat by Newcastle United at King Power Stadium.

“Yeah, I think the important thing is not just having possession and passes, it’s having possession and passes with a purpose which is what we’re working on,” he continued.

“Obviously Newcastle posed a different threat than maybe we’d played and we didn’t manage to quite unlock them, but again that’s going to come with time. 

“We’re working on different systems, different ways of breaking down a low block, so we’re evolving, we’re progressing and I think in the future we’re going to be really, really good.”