On Friday night, at 20:00, Leeds United and West Ham United open the 12th round of the Premier League, with a very interesting match scheduled on Elland Road. It’s a traditional duel in Albion, and Marcelo Bielsa’s band is the favorite in front of the “hammers” prepared by David Moyes. It will be a cold December day, but the game promises to be hot!
Leeds cannot count on Berardi, Forshaw and Koch on Friday, while Hernandez and Shackleton are uncertain. The absence of the Spaniard could influence the offensive game of the newly promoted, who “lives” from the individual achievements of Bamford and Rodrigo – extremely talented players. West Ham has the whole team, except for Michail Antonio and Fredericks, injured. The two teams are very close in the standings, after 11 matches played.
West Ham is on the 8th place (goal difference 18-14), with 17 points, having 5 victories and 4 defeats so far. Leeds are three points behind, with a goal difference of 16-20 and 4 active victories. Defensive is the focal point of the “whites”, but the attack looks pretty good and promises to save from relegation. In fact, as he has shown so far, Leeds should not have emotions in the basement until the end of the season. Patrick Bamford is the best scorer of the Yorkshire team, with 8 goals, while Jarrod Bowen is the London top scorer, with 4 successes.
Last season, West Ham had no reply against Manchester United (1-3), after a series of three consecutive victories, with Fulham (1-0), Sheffield United (1-0) and Aston Villa (2-1) . The inconsistency that characterizes West Ham is kept this season, but the offensive aplomb of the team is indisputable and promises a show again. Leeds comes after contradictory results: 0-0 with Arsenal and 1-0 at Everton were GREAT successes for “El Loco” Bielsa. But the failure came from Chelsea (1-3), with an infernal program to manage for Leeds. Now, however, is the time for Leeds to start collecting points against the teams in the second half of the hierarchy, so victory is the clear goal for Friday. Leeds’ construction and passing game works well, and that’s encouraging.
The direct matches between the two teams did not lead to a lack of show. Three of the last four games ended in a draw, but in all of these they scored both: twice 1-1, once 2-2 and a 2-1 victory for Leeds (in 2005). In fact, no matches have been played between the two teams since 2012, so this statistic may be somewhat irrelevant. One thing is for sure, though. We will see at work two quality teams, with offensive intentions, which will create a lot of danger in the two squares.
Leeds United: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Cooper, Dallas; Raphinha, Klich, Phillips, Harrison; Rodrigo; Bamford
Coach: Marcelo Bielsa
West Ham United: Fabianski; Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Coufal, Rice, Soucek, Masuaku; Bowen, Haller, Benrahma
Coach: David Moyes
In 4 of the last 6 matches of Leeds United, at least three goals have been scored;
Leeds have only won two of their last six league games, with a difficult schedule;
They both scored in 5 of the last 7 games played by West Ham United;
West Ham has 3 victories in the last 4 league matches;
They have scored both teams in the last 4 consecutive direct duels;
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,50
