West Ham United enter the weekend reeling from a decisive defeat, but what do you expect when you run into the buzzsaw that is Bayer Leverkusen? The Bundesliga champions-in-waiting kept their historic unblemished streak going against the Hammers, winning 2-0 at home in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal tie. Now the Irons must regroup quickly against Fulham FC, in a Premier League fixture that is critical to their hopes of securing Europa League football again next season.
They need the points much more than their opponent, in this London derby.
West Ham United vs Fulham FC FYIs
Kick off: 2pm, Sunday April 14, London Stadium, UK
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Position: West Ham 7th, 48 pts Fulham FC 13th, 39 pts
Form Guide: West Ham WDLDD Fulham FC LLDWL
Google Result Probability: West Ham 40% Fulham FC 34% Draw 26%
Team News for Both Sides
Alphonse Areola (groin), Jarrod Bowen (lower back), Kalvin Phillips (hamstring) are all out for the Irons, but the rest of the side is pretty much good to go. Shifting gears to the Cottagers, they have no new or major injury concerns at this time.
West Ham Starting XI Prediction
Lukasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Kurt Zouma, Emerson Palmieri; Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez; Lucas Paqueta, James Ward-Prowse, Mohammed Kudus; Michail Antonio
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.