Leeds United Match Preview

Having suffered their first defeat since 31 October last Saturday, West Ham United will hope to get back to winning ways as they make the trip to Elland Road to face last season’s Sky Bet Championship title winners Leeds United tonight.

The Hammers are currently eighth in the Premier League table but should the visitors acquire all three points from West Yorkshire, they could momentarily lift themselves further, ahead of the weekend’s results.

David Moyes has already seen his team beat play-off winners Fulham last month and will be keen to kick-start another winning run against Marcelo Bielsa’s men.

Having said that, both teams go into the game off the back of defeats last Saturday, with West Ham on the wrong end of a 3-1 home reverse at the hands of Manchester United, while Leeds narrowly lost out at Chelsea so it will be interesting to see who will be in the best shape to bounce back here.

The last trip up north for the Irons saw them beat Sheffield United and they would be delighted if they could make it a double while in the same part of the country in quick succession.

Sébastien Haller may drop to the bench and could be replaced by Andriy Yarmolenko, as the Ukrainian forward made a return to competitive action in the Development Squad’s EFL Trophy defeat to Peterborough United on Tuesday following his positive test for Coronavirus.

Saïd Benrahma is still awaiting a first start and with Michail Antonio not expected to return, the Algerian winger may well get lucky here.

With another game to come at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, Moyes may decide to make further changes and replace Jarrod Bowen with Mark Noble.

Ryan Fredericks is unlikely to start but should be fit enough for a place in the squad after recovering from a groin strain.

As the city of Leeds is currently under tier three level of restrictions due to the pandemic, the game will be played behind closed doors.

The match is an 8pm kick-off with live coverage being screened by Sky Sports from 7:30pm. The referee is Michael Oliver.