“Nuno’s team well-positioned” | Report offers Hammers hope ahead of Leeds finale

West Ham’s opponents Leeds United have the fifty point mark within their signs as the arrive at London Stadium for the season finale tomorrow: Which is a pretty spectacular achievement for one of the newly promoted sides, hotly tipped at the season’s outset to head straight back down to the Championship.

Indeed only Burnley from the trio elevated via promotion last year have failed to stay the distance with Sunderland also flying high.

Ironically it is Dominic Calvert Lewin, once linked with West Ham – and then discarded over injury concerns – who has been Leeds’ surprise package with fourteen goals this season. However, according to analyticsunited, it is their defensive prowess that will offer West Ham the biggest challenge tomorrow as the Hammers go in search of a win:

At the team level, Leeds’ most impressive attributes come in organised defence. Unlike many teams that opt to press high with variable success, Leeds have managed to balance remaining compact without compromising their ability to force high turnovers and create positive counter-attacking situations.

But, according the the data specialists, the Irons can prosper down the flanks:

If Nuno Espírito Santo’s team are to find success against such a stubborn side, they will need to rely on the quality that both Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville can produce as dribblers to break Leeds down.

Whilst El Hadji Malick Diouf’s crossing has proved crucial in countless other matches this season, Leeds can defend with so many bodies that it could be challenging to find the same success from deeper crossing situations.

More focus could instead be placed on the combinations between winger and full-back and the potential for opening up promising 1v1s for the dribblers where they can then create the space for shots. With Leeds potentially set to be missing a number of important players through injury, Nuno’s team could be well-positioned to be the first team to beat them in the league since Sunderland in early March

More important is likely to be the mental attitude that the whites bring with them: Safe and with nothing to play for, West Ham fans will hope that Leeds are already in ‘carnival’ mode with several key players absent. The Hammers’ desperate need for the points should, in theory, tip the game in their direction as they have simply more to gain and more to lose than their visitors.

There’ll be little tolerance for another tepid St James’ Park style capitulation. Whatever the result, Claret and Blue fans will be expecting their players to die for the badge tomorrow in what, for many of them, could be their last appearances at London Stadium  if results at Tottenham don’t go our way.