West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen LIVE commentary: Hammers could be without key duo for second leg against Bundesliga champions – kick-off time, team news and how to follow

West Ham must come from 2-0 down against Bayer Leverkusen to reach the Europa League semi-finals this Thursday, live on talkSPORT 2. 

The Hammers were beaten by two late goals from the now-German champions who ended Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga domination at the weekend.

Xabi Alonso’s side are eyeing a historic double this season after that triumph and they will be desperate to move one step closer to it. 

It will be an incredibly tough task for David Moyes’s men to overcome Leverkusen, especially coming off the back of a home defeat to Fulham on Saturday. 

West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen: Bundesliga winners 

Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title for the first time ever last weekend.

They now sit an uncatchable 16 points clear of Bayern at the top of the table, securing the trophy after beating Werder Bremen 5-0. 

Alonso has led his side to glory and denied Harry Kane’s new side their 12th straight domestic success. 

Their season has been special and they are still unbeaten, going 42 consecutive games in all competitions without losing. 

Leverkusen now have their first piece of silverware since 1993 but they won’t be stopping there as they close in on a second. 

If they extend their long unbeaten run against West Ham, they will only be three games away from a second title of the campaign. 

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• West Ham have won three of their last four home games against German opposition (L1), already beating SC Freiburg twice in the UEFA Europa League this season (2-0 group stage, 5-0 round of 16).
• Bayer Leverkusen have progressed from all 13 previous occasions they have won the first leg of a two-legged European knockout tie by 2+ goals (incl. qualifiers).

West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen: Team news 

West Ham will be without Lucas Paqueta and Emerson who are both suspended. 

Jarrod Bowen is set to undergo a very late fitness test to determine whether he can play a part, with his potential absence a huge blow. 

Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, Kalvin Phillips and Konstantinos Mavropanos are all set to miss out with injuries.

As for Leverkusen, Adam Hlozek missed out on their title-winning game at the weekend. 

The striker is their only injury concern but the Germans have plenty of cover up front with Patrick Schick and Victor Boniface. 

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• West Ham have won each of their last 11 home games in European competitions (incl. qualifiers), seven of which were by a margin of 2+ goals, which they require to avoid elimination in this tie against Bayer Leverkusen.
• Bayer Leverkusen have only won one of their 10 away games against English sides in all competitions (D2 L7), though this win did come in their last visit to the capital against Tottenham in November 2016 (1-0).

West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen: What has been said? 

Moyes has been speaking about the challenges of having to play every few days when competing in Europe. 

“Everybody wants to be in Europe,” the West Ham manager said.

“That is part of the job of being a manager is to make Europe. Some teams have to win leagues, we’ve been great at making Europe. 

“The downside of that is playing and having to come back from the games in midweek on a Thursday. 

“The effort the players put in on Thursday [in the first leg] was immense and we got very little reward for it.”

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• In the first leg, Bayer Leverkusen recorded 33 shots while West Ham had just one; since the UEFA Europa League began in 2009, this is the biggest ever difference in shots (32) between two sides in a match against one another in the competition.
• Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in 10 UEFA Europa League matches (W8 D2); in major European competitions, only from September 1986 to April 1988 have they ever gone longer without defeat (14, all in the UEFA Cup).

West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen: talkSPORT coverage 

This Europa League quarter-final will take place on Thursday, April 18. 

Kick-off at the London Stadium is scheduled for 8pm. 

talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game.

Commentary will come from Adam Bridge and former West Ham manager Alan Pardew.