The West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen clash tomorrow night is arguably our most important game of the season so far.
As things stand, Bayer Leverkusen are in control of the Europa League quarter-final tie, and West Ham have a big task on our hands if we are to turn around the two-goal deficit from the first-leg.
Hammers boss David Moyes will have one hand tied behind his back, with the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Konstantinos Mavropanos big injury doubts and Lucas Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri suspended.
There is still hope that Bowen will be fit to face Leverkusen, but if he doesn’t make it Moyes will be extremely light in the attacking department.
It could be a really tough night at the London Stadium, with Leverkusen looking like a well oiled machine.
Xabi Alonso’s side were crowned as Bundesliga champions on Sunday, although that will hopefully lead to a hangover for their players tomorrow night!
So what options does Moyes have available to him? I genuinely think that one player in particular could be handed a big chance to save his Hammers career against Leverkusen…
West Ham player could save his career vs Bayer Leverkusen
Moyes does not have the option of sitting back and keeping things tight tomorrow night – he has to set up his team to go at Leverkusen from the very first whistle.
The Scot will surely instruct his 11 starters to begin the game on the front foot and to put Leverkusen under pressure from the off.
However, his options are extremely limited, as mentioned earlier. With Paqueta definitely missing, and Bowen highly doubtful to play, how on earth will Moyes line up in an attacking sense?
Well, one man could finally be gifted a proper chance to show us what he’s all about…
Maxwel Cornet has played just 946 minutes of football for the Hammers, since joining us from Burnley just under two years ago (Transfermarkt).
West Ham actually tried to sell the 27-year-old in the January window, but he remained at the London Stadium in the end.
So now, could he really be given a chance to save his Hammers career tonight, with so many attacking players set to miss out?
Moyes could start Cornet out on the left wing, with Michail Antonio through the middle and Mohammed Kudus on the right wing.
We’ll then most likely see a midfield three of James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez.
This is the only real lineup I can envisage. The only other route Moyes could go down is to play Antonio and Kudus up front together as a pair with five across midfield and three centre-backs.
Ben Johnson and Vladimir Coufal could perform the left and right wing-back roles, with Aaron Cresswell slotting in as a left-sided centre-back.
However, I just can’t see that being the correct system to use when we’re trying to overturn a two-goal deficit. I strongly believe that Cornet has to start the game – Moyes just needs to go for it.
The West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen clash could well be the Ivory Coast international’s final chance to save his career at the London Stadium.
Whether or not Moyes is prepared to hand Cornet only his fourth start of the season remains to be seen though.
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