West Ham United face a daunting task in their Europa League second leg against Bayer Leverkusen, with a string of injuries casting a shadow over their preparations.
19-year-old George Earthy, who made his Premier League debut against Fulham, suffered a worrying head injury after colliding with teammate Edson Alvarez. While he’s thankfully out of the hospital, he’ll be unavailable for tonights crucial match.
Lucas Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri are also out due to suspensions, further hampering David Moyes‘ options. Defender Dinos Mavropanos is also a doubt after struggling to finish the last two games.
In stark contrast, Leverkusen has just one injury concern – striker Adam Hlozek. They boast a strong attacking line with Boniface and Patrik Schick, while the highly-rated Florian Wirtz is expected to return after his impressive hat-trick as a substitute.
Manager Xabi Alonso has a wealth of talent to choose from, with the potential return of full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo adding firepower. Exequiel Palacios could also replace Robert Andrich in midfield.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Zouma, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Coufal, Alvarez, Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Johnson; Kudus, Antonio
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Stanisic; Frimpong, Xhaka, Palacios, Grimaldo; Wirtz, Adli; Boniface
Leverkusen was totally dominant in the first leg against West Ham, where the 2-0 victory could easily have been larger if they had shown greater efficiency. Get full blogshttps://www.stats24.com/football/news-preview-west-ham-vs-bayer-leverkusen-team-news-and-prediction-3478
Need to score three goals (or two and not concede and gamble on penalties) with essentially two attacking players – I don’t think that is very likely.