Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted a damaging loss for West Ham as they face Leicester at the London Stadium on Friday.
David Moyes takes charge in his first game at the London Stadium, with the Hammers coming off a 2-0 defeat to Watford in his first game at the helm.
However, Merson doesn’t think it will be a happy home debut for the Scot as he looks to kickstart his West Ham career with a win.
The former Arsenal man has gone for a 3-1 win for Leicester in Friday’s Premier League clash.
In his predictions on Sky Sports, Merson said: “Massive game, and I’m going for Leicester. I think this is a nightmare game for West Ham. Firstly, they’re not playing well, and Leicester are a counter-attacking team.”
Merson went on to criticise Moyes for the way he dealt with the loss to Watford, questioning his post-match comments about his players.
“West Ham have to have a go, and I’m not sure about what David Moyes said about the players after the defeat at Watford. He criticised some of them for their performances; you say that to the players in the dressing room, don’t come out and say it on your first day! The players won’t be happy with that, no way.” he said.
“If I were a player, I’d be thinking: ‘Come on, tell us in the dressing room, don’t blame us in public.’ I know it was the players’ fault, but there’s a way of doing it. That was poor in my opinion.”
OPINION
Merson is certainly right in his assertion that this is a big game. Leicester are also coming off the back of a 2-0 loss, but they went down to league leaders Manchester City, and have looked solid in Claude Puel’s first three games. West Ham on the other hand looked much the same against Watford, and failed to impress Moyes in his first game. Merson’s criticism of Moyes’ post-match comments is interesting, as the players could instead have taken it as motivation. Whichever way they did interpret those comments will most certainly show against Leicester, and the game could develop into a cracking Friday night feast of football.