Ruud boys will struggle to get out of jail against upbeat Hammers
Just as in marriages between two partners who fall in love there is a honeymoon period in football when there’s an acceptance that mistakes will be forgiven for the sake of a long and happy partnership.
But Ruud van Nistelrooy may be about to discover that a quickie divorce can be on the cards if those errors keep occurring.
Leicester City appointed the former interim Manchester United manager as the replacement for Steve Cooper on December 1 and they celebrated by beating West Ham 3-1 at the King Power Stadium before drawing 2-2 with visiting Brighton. So far so good.
However, since then the Foxes have lost ten of 11 Premier League matches including a club-record six at home when they have conceded 15 goals without hitting the net in reply.
Only abysmal Southampton have a worse record and Leicester are five points from safety with a dozen matches remaining, the first of which is against the Hammers at the London Stadium.
The East End club made a managerial switch of their own in January when Graham Potter replaced the hapless Julen Lopeteguiand he also endured a rocky ride at the start of his union, with four defeats and a draw in his first six matches until Saturday’s 1-0 win against Arsenal at the Emirates.
That victory dominated the back pages as it put a massive dent in the Gunners’ title aspirations but it also moved West Ham 13 points clear of the bottom three to dispel any lingering fears they may be sucked into the relegation quicksand.
They can draw further away from the bottom three, who all look pretty inept in any case, by picking up three points at 8/13 with William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral with over 2.5 goals 8/11 with bet365.
It points to Van Nistelrooy being the next manager to leave his post at no better than 4/5 with Sky Bet.
Jarrod Bowen, the jewel in the Hammers’ crown, is 5/1 to open the scoring and 7/4 to add to his goal against the Gunners at any time, both with the same firm, and keep a keen eye on the starting line up.
If Evan Ferguson, on loan from Brighton, is on the pitch from the off have a flutter on him to score at some stage at 43/20 with Unibet.
His romance with a new club could be a marriage made in heaven.
• Aaron Rai and Stephan Jaeger both cashed the each-way part of our bets at the Mexico Open following the success of Ludvig Aberg and Tommy Fleetwood at the Genesis Invitational.
With the big guns still resting before next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, our each-way slate for the Cognizant Classic in California, all with bet365, reads Shane Lowry and Russell Henley both at 18/1, Taylor Pendrith at 28/1 and 40/1 longshot Luke Clanton.
• Sheffield United, Portsmouth, Chesterfield and Colchester form Saturday’s Football League acca.
MORE: Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn face-off cancelled after security concerns
MORE: Victor Osimhen drops transfer hint amid Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd links
MORE: Cole Palmer sends message to Chelsea fans after blanking again vs Southampton
