The Reason Why Iheanacho Has Been Picked Instead Of Vardy To Lead Leicester Attack At West Ham

Manager Brendan Rodgers has surprisingly named Kelechi Iheanacho in his starting line-up for this evening's Premier League match against West Ham United at the London Stadium.

Another significant change sees Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi being named on the bench for only the first time this season.

Former England international Jamie Vardy had been expected to at least make the matchday 18 but there is no place in the squad for the Premier League top scorer.

Providing an explanation as to why he has made nine changes to his starting line-up, with only Jonny Evans and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel the only two survivors from the last game vs Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers said before the game shown live on Super Sport : "Obviously a few enforced, Jamie Vardy's wife had a child today, so Jamie is with her, so congratulations to both of them.

"And Ricardo Pereira felt his hamstring so wasn't risked and also with less than 48 hours we can't afford to risk injuries of players especially when I've got players I really trust.

"They are a very important part of our squad, so first we need to play at the maximum and we need to run and be aggressive. We've got a fresh team hopefully to do that".

Iheanacho, who has netted 4 goals in all competitions this season, previously started two Premier League matches against Aston Villa and Norwich City.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : lcfc.com