Issa Diop can continue his fine form against Jamie Vardy this weekend

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West Ham United defender Issa Diop has the chance to further increase his stock by shackling Leicester City star Jamie Vardy this weekend.

Last time out Diop fared very well against Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane, even though the Hammers lost 1-0 to an Erik Lamela goal.

The Frenchman, who recently declared for Les Bleus and may soon find himself earning call-ups, has been in fine fettle lately.

In his opening few games he appeared shaky.

But he looks to have found his feet now, and has struck up a decent understanding with Fabian Balbuena.

On Saturday, he comes up against Jamie Vardy; one of the Premier League’s fastest and most clinical strikers.

Vardy could give Diop the runaround

If Diop can counter the threat of Vardy, then West Ham will stand a great chance of winning the game.

The ex-England international has three goals and one assist in seven appearances, but nothing in the last two so he’ll be hoping to make a meaningful contribution at the King Power Stadium.

Diop will hope to fare a little better against speed this time around.

Against Arsenal he had to contend with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, so he may be in for a similar kind of game in the Midlands, with Kelechi Iheanacho likely to be partnering Vardy up top.

Having dealt with Kane pretty well, he’ll be confident of adding Vardy to his list of victims.

If Diop can boast solid performances against Vardy on top of Alvaro Morata, Romelu Lukaku, Kane, then Manuel Pellegrini can take great satisfaction with the transfer business he did in the summer.