Leeds United face West Ham United on Wednesday evening (7:45pm), in a first match of 2023 for both teams.
Under the lights of Elland Road once again, the Whites will be hoping to begin the New Year in style, after picking up a valuable point away at Newcastle United to end 2022 in a match where Illan Meslier impressed to pick up a deserved clean sheet.
That point made it it two wins, two defeats and a draw in the last five league games for Jesse Marsch’s side and they will now be aiming for all three in this one.
The Hammers are hoping to find form themselves, after a tough start to the campaign. They are currently on a tough run of five straight Premier League defeats, most recently a 2-0 loss at home to Brentford in their final match of 2022.
When the two teams met last season, they won one game apiece in the Premier League. A memorable Jack Harrison hat-trick at the London Stadium saw Leeds win 3-2 away from home, but that was after David Moyes’ side had won 2-1 at Elland Road through Michail Antonio’s 90th minute winner.
Going into this one, a congested bottom half of the Premier League table means that all points are valuable. West Ham are 17th in the table, level on goal difference with 18th placed Nottingham Forest. A win could see the go as high as 13th, above the Whites.
Marsch’s side have a two point gap to the Hammers and currently have preferential goal difference, too. With games in hand on teams around them, three points would be even more welcomed to extend the gap below them and also have the chance of moving into 13th spot.
Said Benrahma is top of the goalscoring stats in the Premier League for Wednesday night’s opponents. The dangerous forward who can operate in a number of areas will need to be a player to watch.
After a four-match scoring run prior to the international break for the World Cup, which saw him net five goals, Rodrigo will be aiming to get into double figures for the season. The Spanish international currently has nine to his name.
The match has not been selected for live television coverage within the UK. You can stay right here on leedsunited.com to follow live updates throughout the 90 minutes, or listen to uninterrupted commentary on LUTV!
Manager/head coach:
Leeds: Jesse Marsch
West Ham: David Moyes
What has Jesse Marsch said, ahead of the match?
“Obviously you look at the table and you say West Ham are a competitor for where we are. We’re playing at home and we want to find a way to get a result.”
Head to head:
Leeds: 49
Draws: 29
West Ham: 31
League position:
Leeds: 14th
West Ham: 17th
Premier League top scorer:
Leeds: Rodrigo (9)
West Ham: Said Benrahma (3)
Team news:
Jesse Marsch will be without Luis Sinisterra and Patrick Bamford for the match, as they continue their recovers from injuries earlier in the season. The head coach is hopeful of Crysencio Summerville and Jack Harrison being ‘100 per cent’ fit for this one.
The away side have recently welcomed back striker, Gianluca Scamacca after he recovered from an ankle injury. The only absentees for David Moyes are likely to be Kurt Zouma and Maxwel Cornet.
Officials:
Referee - David Coote
Assistant Referee - Nick Hopton
Assistant Referee - Timothy Wood
Fourth Official - Peter Banks
Video Assistant Referee - Paul Tierney
How to watch:
The match has not been selected for live television coverage within the UK. You can stay right here on leedsunited.com to follow live updates throughout the 90 minutes, or listen to uninterrupted commentary on LUTV!
