Bayer Leverkusen are having the season of their life.
The German side are already on the cusp of winning their first-ever Bundesliga title. Now, Xabi Alonso’s men are preparing to host David Moyes’ West Ham in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.
The Premier League outfit are having a decent campaign of their own though, and will be hoping they can become the first side to beat Leverkusen this season.
Read on for all you need to know about the upcoming European clash, including the early team news, how to watch and the current betting odds.
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Kick-off time and where to watch
UK viewers can tune into TNT Sports 2 from 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, 11th April, 2024 for all the pre-match build-up. Kick-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
For those wanting to steam the game, log in to the Discovery+ app. Coverage starts at the same time.
Bayer Leverkusen team news
Bayer Leverkusen are relatively injury-free with Arthur (hamstring) the only expected absentee.
Possible XI: Lukas Hradecky, Odilon Kossounou, Jonathan Tah, Piero Hincapie, Nathan Tella, Alex Grimaldo, Adam Hlozek, Florian Wirtz, Victor Boniface.
West Ham team news
David Moyes is sweating on the availability of two key players. Star man Jarrod Bowen (hip) and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola (groin) are doubts for Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen.
Bowen was forced off against Wolves after colliding with Nelson Semedo and injuring his hip. His manager confirmed after the game the winger is in danger of missing the first leg.
“We’ve got to hope he’s OK,” Moyes said. “We need all our top players. He’s had a knee into his hip or back. It’s not a twist. He said he’s got kneed and he’s really stiff. I’ve had one or two of those myself and they don’t go away too quick. I’m hoping it won’t be too bad.”
Possible XI: Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Kostantinos Mavropanos, Emerson, Edson Alvarez, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta, James Ward-Prowse, Mohammed Kudus, Michail Antonio.
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Odds
Bayer Leverkusen 17/35
Draw 15/4
West Ham 6/1
(Odds via Oddschecker. Prices accurate at time of publish.)
Prediction
European knockout games are notoriously tough to predict.
With so much on the line, teams seldom go all out attack, especially when ties are played over two legs.
Bayer Leverkusen will be more inclined to go on the offensive now the away goal rule has been scrapped but they won’t want to leave themselves too exposed knowing the Hammers have a decent goalscoring record this season.
We expect this one to be a slightly cagier affair with neither team overcommitting resulting in few goals being scored.
Prediction: Under 2.5 goals.