It remains to be seen if teenage left-back Ollie Scarles will be handed another start ahead of Emerson after earning rave reviews following a surprise full league debut at Arsenal, while, fitness permitting, this could be the ideal game for Brighton loanee Evan Ferguson to make his first West Ham start after a couple of appearances off the bench since joining in January.
Hammers boss Graham Potter has confirmed that Paqueta will indeed play no part against the struggling Foxes at the London Stadium along with Coufal, who missed both the victory over Arsenal and home loss to Brentford with a hamstring strain but could return against Newcastle next week.
Potter won’t want to mess too much with a winning team, but he may well opt to line up more offensively at home in search of back-to-back victories against a Leicester side who beat them back in November but were thumped by Brentford last time out to continue their horror run under Ruud van Nistelrooy that has left them sitting 19th and now five points adrift of safety.
West Ham are 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.
Brazilian playmaker Paqueta sustained an ankle injury during training last week and subsequently sat out the shock 1-0 win at Arsenal, with the former Lyon star also considered likely to miss the home clash with Leicester too.
