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The Europa League contest will witness the first-ever meeting between Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham United on Friday at the BayArena. Their only meeting was in the friendlies fixture in 2023 where Bayer Leverkusen came out as the winners by 4-0 and scored a dominating win against their English counterparts.
Bayer Leverkusen has been in the headlines for all the right reasons this season. Xabi Alonso's men eliminated Azerbaijanβs Qarabag Fk in their round of 16 meeting by an aggregate score of 5-4.
West Ham United lost the first leg against their Dutch equivalents SC Freiburg. However, the Hammers recollected themselves and made a stunning comeback at home and defeated the opposition by 5-0 in the 2nd leg.
Leverkusen has scored an average of 1.07 goals in the first half and 1.39 goals in the 2nd half and hence they will carry momentum in both the halves.
The betting tip is...
Bayer Leverkusen will score in both halves.
63 %
37 %
Die Schwarzroten have avoided a loss in the last 41 fixtures of the 2023-24 season and Xabi Alonso is getting appreciation for his extraordinary managing skills from across the globe. However, their close win over Qarabag Fk in the 2nd leg made headlines the next day.Β
Bayer Leverkusen is traveling back home after scoring a 0-1 win over Union Berlin in the previous fixture. With 66% possession and 14 shots overall, the visitors dominated the game but couldn't help themselves to score more than a single goal.
Overall, Leverkusen has recorded an average possession of 64% out of which 66% was recorded at home. With an average of 14.25 shots in every game, Leverkusen has a conversion of 17%. They have also scored a win in 50% of their fixtures with clean sheets which shows the balance of the whole squad.
Victor Boniface is their leading scorer with 10 goals and 7 assists on his name. Γlex Grimaldo is following him with 9 goals and 11 assists on his name. Xabi Alonso and his boys have won all the home fixtures in the Europa League and would like to continue the record on Friday as well.
Adam Hlozek (Ankle) and Nathan Tella (Hip) are out of action due to their respective injuries.
Predicted Lineup: Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich, Grimaldo; Wirtz, Adli; Schick
The Friday encounter will be the 2nd meeting for the Hammers against a Dutch squad. A 5-0 comeback against SC Freiburg in the 2nd leg will act as a motivating factor for the English club. West Ham scored an away win against the Wolves in the previous fixture by 1-2.
With a possession of 41%, West Ham was lucky enough to get an advantage in the dying moments of the game as James Ward-Prowse scored the winning goal in the 84th minute. Overall, the Hammers have recorded an average possession of 41% - which is too low compared to their counterparts. They have also recorded an average of 9.84 shots in every fixture with a conversion of 17%.
West Hamβs primary problems are in the defence as they just have 16% clean sheets on their name this season. They have also conceded an average of 1.75 goals in every game and an average of 2.06 goals came in the away set-up.
Jarrod Bowen is their leading scorer with 15 goals and 5 assists on his name. After him comes Mohammed Kudus with 7 goals and 4 assists on his name. The visitors would have not forgotten their embarrassing 4-0 friendly defeat against the hosts, hence, wonβt allow any mistakes in on Friday.
Jarrod Bowen suffered spinal bruising against the Wolves and hence wonβt be traveling with the team.
Predicted Lineup: Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Mavropanos; Johnson, Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Emerson; Kudus, Paqueta; Antonio
The hosts carry a major advantage in terms of their attack and possession stats. West Ham has struggled at the back and received a big blow in the previous game as Jarrod Bowen got injured. His unavailability will affect the attack of the Hammers on Friday.
There are no major injury concerns for Leverkusen and the starting XI looks in good shape. We predict a win for Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.
