West Ham have a daunting task in store as they seek to keep their flailing Europa League hopes alive when they welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the London Stadium on Thursday evening.
To reach their third successive European semi-final, West Ham, who are trailing 2-0 from the first leg, will need to produce something quite special.
David Moyes recently admitted the Hammers have “half a chance” of progressing, albeit they will have to get the job done without Lucas Paqueta who is ruled out through suspension.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, who were crowned as Bundesliga champions for the first time in their 120-year history with a 5-0 drubbing of Werder Bremen, are still on course for a dream treble.
The victory over Bremen means Xabi Alonso’s troops have now won eight games on the bounce in all competitions, and remarkably they remain unbeaten this term.
Can West Ham dig themselves out of a hole? I have scoured the markets and plucked out a couple of betting tips to mull over ahead of kick-off.
Bayer Leverkusen to make smooth progress
Previously dubbed Bayer “Neverkusen”, Leverkusen’s unfortunate moniker dogged them for many years.
However, under Alonso, Leverkusen have transformed into a juggernaut and they have swept all before for them in what has been a stunning season to date.
But there is more to come. The Europa League represents another serious chance to add more silverware to the cabinet, and in sweeping aside West Ham, they extended their unbeaten run at the time to 42 games (W37, D5).
It was such a one-sided game that West Ham battled to keep Leverkusen at bay for 83 minutes before their resistance was broken.
The Hammers faced 33 shots last week, and Lukasz Fabianski pulled off nine saves, the joint-most he managed in a single game since facing Arsenal in August 2018.
A 2-0 defeat for Moyes at Fulham last weekend damaged their prospects of qualifying for Europe next season, and I just can’t see them knocking Leverkusen off their stride.
To open things up, I’m going to go with Leverkusen to make smooth progress and win to nil, and a price of 11/4 can be located at Paddy Power.
Florian Wirtz to cap off special evening
Under Alonso, Wirtz has revolutionised the traditional No.10 role, and he has been a mercurial presence.
The No.10 shirt, of course, is iconic in world football, with the likes of Pele, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messi just three legends who have made it their own.
While Wirtz hasn’t reached such elevated heights, he has terrorised defences domestically and internationally, and invariably, there’s an end product.
In front of goal, he’s been razor sharp, rattling home six times in his past four outings in all competitions.
Wirtz could waltz through the West Ham defence and put the final death knell in their coffin.
To round things off, I’m backing Wirtz to grab the last goal of the game, and bet365 has stumped up a price of 17/2 for this outcome.
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