Leicester welcomes West Ham in very different place
LONDON (Reuters) – The last time Leicester City hosted West Ham United in the Premier League just over a year ago, it won 2-1 through a late goal to spark a revival that has shown no sign of slowing down ever since.
Leicester, which won six of its next eight games to avoid what had seemed inevitable relegation, welcomes the Hammers back to the King Power Stadium on Sunday needing three more victories to seal its first English top-flight title.
Claudio Ranieri’s team has only lost three times in 33 league matches this season and will move 10 points clear of its only serious remaining challenger, Tottenham Hotspur, with a sixth successive win. Spurs face Stoke City on Monday.
Leicester opened up a 10-point gap last week when it kept a fifth successive clean sheet to beat relegation-threatened Sunderland 2-0, while Spurs reduced the gap to seven points when they plundered three goals in six minutes to beat Manchester United 3-0 at White Hart Lane.
Spurs almost certainly need to win to keep the title race alive and although his team is within touching distance of the finish, manager Ranieri is not looking forward to the run-in to the campaign’s end.
“The last five matches will be terrible, because nothing is decided yet as far as the title is concerned,” he said.
“Spurs are not giving up and we have to stay focused. Our mission is to do the best we can – then if Tottenham overtakes us, we will compliment them, it is the law of sport.”
Leicester has 72 points from 33 games and Spurs 65 from 33, six points clear of Arsenal whose manager Arsene Wenger virtually conceded his team blew its chance last week after losing a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw at West Ham.
The Gunners do have a game in hand on their arch-rival Tottenham and are determined to maintain their record of never finishing below Spurs in the 20 seasons Wenger has been in charge.
They face Crystal Palace, who drew 0-0 with Everton on Wednesday, and it would be surprise if Arsenal slipped up in a second successive London derby.
Manchester City, which qualified for the Champions League semifinals for the first time on Tuesday, visits mid-table outgoing champion Chelsea determined to stay ahead of its local neighbor United, which beat West Ham 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the FA Cup semifinals.
United, in fifth and four points behind City, faces virtually doomed Aston Villa at Old Trafford, with the visitor needing victory to have any chance of avoiding dropping out of the top tier for the first time since 1988.