Graham Potter West Ham United Tactics To Defeat Van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City – Tactical Analysis

We were treated to another exciting period of midweek Premier League action, with the London Stadium playing host to the final match on Thursday night.

West Ham United welcomed Leicester Citys visit in a match in which both sides were desperate to collect all three points.

Graham Potter’s Hammers have experienced mixed results thus far but would’ve felt as confident as ever off the back of a hard-fought victory against Arsenal.

With West Ham once again putting a dent into Mikel Arteta’s title aspirations, the focus for Ruud van Nistelrooy was unfortunately on the opposite end of the table, with the Foxes heading towards an almost inevitable relegation.

Unfortunately for Leicester, there were no surprises on the night.

West Ham controlled the match to earn a deserved 2-0 win—the first time West Ham have achieved back-to-back Premier League victories all season.

While Potter’s side will find optimism in their tactical principles evolving, once again, defensive mistakes allowed West Ham to breach Leicesters defence in the first half.

Our tactical analysis will highlight how both sides set up to minimise each other’s attacking threat, with special consideration for how Potter’s 5-3-2 formation could adapt and shift in possession.

West Ham United Vs Leicester City Lineups & Formations

Graham Potter named an unchanged XI from his match-winning team, which defeated Arsenal.

Once again, they lined up in the 5-3-2 formation from the outset.

Alphonse Areola retained his place in goal for West Ham, protected by an immediate defensive trio of Aaron Cresswell, Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo.

Oliver Scarles and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were then deployed as wing-backs in more advanced positions in possession, with a clear defensive focus to remain compact and combative when West Ham were without the ball.

Potter then lined up with a midfield comprised of Tomáš Souček, Edson Álvarez and James Ward-Prowse, who all performed varied roles which looked to add balance and creativity to West Ham’s efforts in the middle third.

This then left Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen, two natural wingers who could offer their talents in both the wider areas and through the centre of the pitch, as a strike partnership.

Leicesters Van Nistelrooy was looking to bounce back from an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at the hands of Brentford, continuing with the 4-2-3-1 formation from previous matches.

Mads Hermansen started in goal for the Foxes, with a defensive line of Victor Kristiansen and James Justin as the two fullbacks and Jannik Vestergaard and Wout Faes as the central defensive partnership.

Boubakary Soumaré and Wilfried Ndidi formed Leicester’s double pivot, with Bilal El Khannouss deployed as more of an advanced midfielder to support their attacking efforts.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Facundo Buonanotte provided the width for Leicester in and out of possession, with Premier League legend Jamie Vardy leading the line.

In fact, Leicester looked to switch their tactical approach with different personnel in the second half, with Stephy Mavididi and Harry Winks coming off the bench to aid their ball progression and influence in the final third.

Leicester’s Mixed Defensive Fortunes

With Leicester facing an almost insurmountable task of staying in the Premier League this season, it was imperative that they arrived at the London Stadium ready to be organised and combative enough to nullify West Ham’s attacking threat under Graham Potters tactics.

In the early stages, Leicester frustrated West Ham by setting them up off the ball, with the Foxes seemingly targeting the Hammers’ most progressive passer on the night.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side lined up in more of a 4-4-2 when they were pressing West Ham in the first half, with El Khannouss stepping up to support Vardy in the first line of pressure.

But instead of a traditional press, where the two ‘strikers’ would press the opposing centre-backs, Vardy and El Khannouss would consistently drop in slightly to double up on Ward-Prowse.

By negating the influence of West Ham’s deepest-lying midfielder in these early moments, the Hammers resorted to ball progression targeted towards the flanks, with direct passes into Scarless feet opening up in the middle third.

However, despite Leicester’s rigid block and the wide midfielders often unable to stretch wide enough to apply pressure to Scarles and the supporting Cresswell, West Ham’s final third options were often overwhelmed due to a lack of space through the centre.