Five reasons why West Ham can beat Bayer Leverkusen

Much has been written about Bayer Leverkusen’s team over the last few days.

The German press has pretty much written off West Ham’s chances of progressing to the Europa League semi-finals. I totally understand why they’re so confident and, of course, why the Bundesliga media would back their own team.

However, there are two sides in the Europa quarter-final, and while Xabi Alonso’s men have some formidable players, The Hammers have some pretty good ones too.

Reasons to be hopeful

Mohammed Kudus: The Ghanaian is an exceptional player who can cause any team problems with his dribbling, power, and eye for goal.

Lucas Paqueta: The Paq man is an incredible player who would grace any team in world football. Unlike the majority of the Leverkusen team, Paqueta has proven his big match nerve by supplying the pass that won The Irons our Conference League trophy last year.

Jarrod Bowen: Jarrod is one of the finest goal scorers in the Premier League and an England international. Like Paqueta, he has shown that he can do it on the big European occasion. Now presumed to be missing from the first leg, if West Ham can stay in the tie he could be set of a big game next week. 

Edson Alvarez: An incredible player who gives it the full Gandalf (“you shall not pass”) in front of his defenders. Alvarez also makes the midfield tick and will be a formidable opponent for Leverkusen. Annoyingly Alvarez will be absent from the first leg, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a huge impact at The London Stadium. How David Moyes deals without him in the midfield will be crucial. However, I saw enough from James Ward Prowse in the second half against Wolves to be hopeful  

Emerson: When given the license to roam, the Italian left back/wing back is an incredible dribbler as displayed in the second half against Wolves. Much will be made of the Germans’ wing backs, but don’t discount West Ham’s version.

It ain’t over until  . . . well, you know the rest

So, West Ham do absolutely stand a chance of progressing in this tournament. The German press seems to have forgotten that we are actually the current holders of a European trophy. Xabi Alonso has built a formidable team who are on the cusp of doing great things.

But the Hammers are more than capable of beating anyone over two legs in European football, and we have the pedigree to prove it.