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West Ham are just three points off the Premier League drop zone with three games of the campaign this weekend as they head to out-of-form Leicester City on Saturday desperate for a win that could pretty much seal safety.

The Foxes are ninth in the Premier League table but have have not had the best 2018, with only four wins since the turn of the year and off the back of a 5-0 whacking by Crystal Palace last weekend.

Claude Puel is under-pressure once again despite their relatively comfortable league position as rumours swirl his players are less than happy with his constant changing of the starting line-up as the form has dropped off.

West Ham meanwhile need to stop the rot of successive 4-1 defeats at the hands of Arsenal and Manchester City, with preparations for the game not exactly ideal after David Moyes and Andy Carroll's bust-up on Monday.

So, what do the Hammers need to do right on Saturday to pick up a very precious three points at the King Power Stadium? We take a look.

Play more attacking

It's an easy thing to say, of course, and Moyes is only deploying the maligned 5-4-1 formation because it's the best he can apparently do with the tools at his disposal.

Even if the 5-4-1 is used this weekend, Arthur Masuaku needs to start (having been dropped for the Manchester City) to offer some much-needed dynamism, pace and counter-attacking opportunities down the left wing.

Leicester are there for the taking this weekend and the Hammers have to make the most of it. Playing Masuaku instead of Patrice Evra allows West Ham to be more attacking from the back and not just soak up the pressure and hope to counter. They tried that against Man City and it didn't work at all.

Give Manuel Lanzini a licence to roam

The centre midfielders are there for a reason, to protect the back four and win the ball in the midfield, so let the likes of Chiekhou Kouyate and Mark Noble do exactly that and free up Manuel Lanzini.

The Argentine has not had his best season but by far his best performance came away at Huddersfield Town when he was allowed to wander around behind Marko Arnautovic - the Hammers smashed in four goals that day.

Moyes called out Lanzini for supposedly shirking defensive duties against Manchester City but Leicester are not the Premier League champions, Lanzini is not needed as much defensively.

Let him play his natural game. While he has been off-colour since returning from injury, Lanzini is crucial to the Hammers getting anything this weekend and Marko Arnautovic will need help as well.

Use the wing backs effectively

Be it Aaron Cresswell last weekend or Masuaku and Pablo Zabaleta on the other side, the Hammers have not been using their full-backs well enough over recent months.

When West Ham hit a bit of form in December and January, Masuaku especially was involved a lot early on but seemingly recently, it's been hump the ball down the channels and get Arnautovic to chase it down and hopefully bring others into play.

Masuaku thrives on having the ball at his feet and taking on defenders and that's a tactic Moyes has deserted but it was effective before and maybe should think about doing again.

Arnautovic is no mug in the air either, we still don't know if Andy Carroll might feature just yet, but it's something worth exploring, rather than aimless punts from the back.

(Image: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

Define a role for Cheikhou Kouyate

If he is going to sit as a defensive midfielder, make him do that. If Moyes wants him to be more attacking, make him do that.

Far too often this season, Kouyate has been caught between a rock and a hard place of either trying to go forward and support attacks and getting caught out, or being too defensive and not getting forward enough.

The Senegal skipper has not had the best season by any accounts but he's not been helped out by the tactics. Give him a job at the King Power and let him stick to it, rather than floating around all about the place and not seemingly knowing where he needs to be.

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