West Ham face the difficult task of facing Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals of the Europa League this evening.
The Irons are in Germany to face a side that are unbeaten in all competitions this season.
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen are running away with the Bundesliga title and are into the final of DFB-Pokal, so they will prove to be an incredibly tough opponent for David Moyes’ men.
However, the Hammers will go there knowing they have the quality to hurt Leverkusen and take a result back to east London for the return leg.
Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham: Paqueta the difference
In Lucas Paqueta, West Ham have a genuine world-class midfielder.
The Brazilian is a stunning technician with the ball at his feet and is equally adept at setting up players as he is at scoring goals.
He’s also physical and tall and uses that muscle to pin defenders and create opportunities for others.
But Paqueta’s most impressive attribute is his work rate off the ball.
It would be very easy for a number ten of his ability to contribute nothing out of possession, but he’s often the one who leads West Ham’s attempts to win the ball back and averages 2.5 tackles per game in the Europa League this season.
If West Ham are to overcome Leverkusen, they need Paqueta to be at his best.
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- This is the first European meeting between Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham United – Bayer last faced English opponents in Europe in the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League group stages against Spurs (0-0 at home, won 1-0 away).
- West Ham United have already eliminated German opponents in the UEFA Europa League this season, beating SC Freiburg 5-1 on aggregate in the last 16. They did, however, lose the away leg of their knockout match 1-0 in Freiburg.
- Among managers to manage at least 15 games in the UEFA Europa League, only Diego Simeone (81%, P26 W21) has a better win ratio than Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso (P16 W11, 69%), while Alonso’s side is averaging 2.4 goals per game (38 in 16), the best of any manager with 15+ games in the competition.
Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham: Team news
The hosts do have a few fitness concerns over several players.
Adam Hlozek came off in the first half at the weekend with an ankle problem and has been ruled out of this one.
Nathan Tella is doubtful due to a hip issue picked up in the same match.
However, Victor Boniface is fit after a long-term abductor injury.
Meanwhile, West Ham have lost Jarrod Bowen to a spine issue.
Alphonse Areola won’t play because of a groin injury while Edson Alvarez is suspended.
- Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in the UEFA Europa League this season (W7 D1), scoring 24 goals in their eight games. Only in 2001-02 have they won more games in a major European season (8) while they’ve only netted more goals in 1994-95 (26) and 2001-02 (29) than they have this campaign.
- This is West Ham’s fifth UEFA Europa League match against German opposition this season, with all four others coming against SC Freiburg. They are just the third English team to play 5+ games against German teams in a major European season, along with Liverpool in the 1972-73 UEFA Cup and Manchester City in the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League, both of whom won those competitions that season.
- Patrik Schick has scored in each of his last four UEFA Europa League appearances for Bayer Leverkusen, netting five goals with four coming as a substitute. Only Rodrigo Palacio in 2012-13 for Inter (5) has ever netted more sub goals in a Europa League season, while Ulf Kirsten is the only Bayer player to score in five consecutive major European appearances, doing so twice (5 in 1993-94 & 5 in 1998-99).
Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham: What has been said?
West Ham’s Valdimir Coufal is looking forward to facing Bayer Leverkusen.
He said: “They have a lot of strong players in their team, and it’s not going to be an easy match.
“We’re going to do everything we can to stop them, and I’m going to give the lads some insight to help them!
“If we weren’t in the competition anymore, I’d probably be cheering them on to win the whole thing, but we have a job to do and we’re confident we can stop them.
“They’re favourites to win the Bundesliga and the German Cup, but hopefully, we can make sure that two trophies is all they’re going to get this season.”
- Bayer Leverkusen have won all four of their home UEFA Europa League matches this season, scoring 3+ goals in each match (17 in total). The only team in Europa League history to win five in a row and score 3+ goals in each game were Chelsea in 2018-19, while no German side has ever scored more than 17 goals at home in a Europa League season.
- Mohammed Kudus has scored five goals in each of last two major European campaigns (5 for Ajax in 2022-23, 5 for West Ham this season). Kudus is only the third Ghanaian player to score 10+ goals in major European competitions, along with Anthony Yeboah (17) and Michael Essien (11).
Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham: Date and how to follow
This Europa League quarter-final first-leg clash is set to take place on Thursday, April 11.
Kick-off at the BayArena is scheduled for 8pm UK time.
talkSPORT 2 will have live coverage from Germany, with Jim Proudfoot and former Republic of Ireland midfielder Ray Houghton taking you through the action.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
News Summary:
- Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham LIVE commentary: Irons face uphill battle to end German side’s remarkable unbeaten run – kick-off time, team news and how to follow
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