Leicester City striker duo dangerous for West Ham to contend with

It has been anything but an ideal start to the season for Leicester City, but regardless of their points total or table positioning the Foxes have scored in every Premier League match this season. West Ham will have their hands full with the Foxes strong striker duo plus a dynamic supporting cast.

The two names to worry about are pretty well known, Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho. Both are centre-forward strikers, both can burn you with extreme pace, and both tend to start alongside each other to lead the line for Leicester City.

This season has been pretty solid for the two players. Vardy has played in seven Premier League matches, scoring three goals and adding one assist in that time. Iheanacho has played in all nine Premier League games for Leicester City and has only scored one goal but has assisted three others.

The book has long been out on Vardy now. He is a pace merchant who will lead a strong counter-attack up the pitch at any chance he gets. He is also a clinical finisher who doesn’t miss many chances when he gets a good look at goal. Like his team, Vardy is a fox himself when he gets into the oppositions penalty area; if he’s not looking to lose his coverage and get open, he usually has the ball and can draw a penalty with ease.

Iheanacho is a name that should ring a bell for West Ham supporters. He was heavily linked to West Ham in the summer of 2017, but with a clearer path to the starting XI on the Leicester squad the former Manchester City prospect chose the Foxes over the Hammers. He is a versatile player who can play across a front three or as a #10, despite his best position being a striker.

Both players are extremely quick and will look to stretch out the centre-back duo of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena with timed sprints on long balls up the middle. Even with their blazing speed being their most used tool, Vardy and Iheanacho have some stellar support in their attack.

James Maddison has quickly settled into life in the Premier League. The natural central attacking midfielder is now the string puller when it comes to the Leicester City attack; his creativity matches his playmaking ability and he’ll be a target for Declan Rice to shut down.

Outside of their forwards, Leicester has two young and exciting fullbacks that like to join the attack and create offensively, Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira.

In their last match against Arsenal, Chilwell forced an own goal from Hector Bellerin on a scrambled play in the Arsenal box. The match before, Pereira scored a beauty of a goal slicing into the Everton box and cutting back and forth on his marker so many times he dropped his coverage allowing the fullback to slam home the goal.

Vardy and Iheanacho are the two names who will be circled on the teamsheet to target and shut down. Regardless of game planning, West Ham will need to be fully aware of the supporting cast that can set up the strikers or do it themselves on the pitch.