West Ham are unchanged for tonight’s Premier League clash against Leicester, meaning both Lucas Paqueta and Vladimir Coufal again miss out.
Paqueta suffered an ankle injury during training last week, and subsequently sat out the shock 1-0 win at Arsenal, and Hammer boss Graham Potter has confirmed that the Brazilian will play no part against the struggling Foxes at the London Stadium.
Coufal, who missed both the victory over Arsenal and home loss to Brentford with a hamstring strain, is also absent but could return against Newcastle next week.
“Both are progressing,” Potter said of Paqueta and Coufal at his pre-Leicester press conference on Tuesday. “Both won’t make the squad on Thursday but are making progress.
“Vladi, [there is] certainly a chance for Newcastle. Lucas, we’ll just have to see how he responds. But certainly for Leicester, no.”
West Ham were not believed to be battling any fresh injury concerns as they look to follow up on their win over Arsenal sealed by Jarrod Bowen’s late first-half header at the Emirates Stadium, with Potter still facing a shortage of options in attack.
Along with Paqueta, the Irons are still missing the likes of Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug, along with Michail Antonio.
Starting West Ham XI: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Todibo, Cresswell, Scarles, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Bowen, Kudus
Subs: Fabianski, Soler, Mavropanos, Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Emerson, Ferguson, Irving
Time and date: 8pm GMT on Thursday February 27, 2025
Venue: London Stadium
TV channel and live stream: TNT Sports
Referee: Anthony Taylor
