WHZ View: Aerial bombardment is key to West Ham success v Leeds
Leeds United have certainly made a splash in the Premier League after their 16-year hiatus but West Ham can inflict further misery on their recent poor form.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side will head to the London Stadium on Monday night trailing the hosts by five positions and ten points with the gap between the two pretty substantial as the Irons chase European football.
Leeds have lost three of their last four games and will be desperate to right their wrongs in this run.
The West Yorkshire outfit have actually scored a few more goals than us with 43 compared to 40 but they have shown vulnerability at the back which has not been present in our play.
They have shipped 44 goals in the Premier League this season, 13 more than us, and the source of 20.9% of them is a cause for concern that David Moyes and co should be targeting.
According to Wyscout Leeds have conceded nine goals from headed shots with only rock-bottom Sheffield United shipping more via this route while we have scored 10 headers, behind only Everton.
Added to this is their lowly aerial duel success of 46.5% which puts them in the bottom half of the Premier League.
Meanwhile the Irons are successful with 50% of their aerial duels and it is a clear strength of ours evidenced by the fact that we engage in 39.88 per 90, more than all-but three teams in the division.
Leeds only compete in 32.98 per 90 so are much less versed in the arts of the aerial duel and will be less prepared for the challenge we bring.
Our success in swinging balls into the box is shown in a 36% cross-completion rate that puts us in the Premier League top three.
Interestingly 227 of our 414 crosses come from the right flank and given Leeds’ lack of a natural left-back this could be a route to success on Monday.
With injuries decimating their backline and midfield the Whites have chopped and changed between Stuart Dallas and Ezgjan Alioski at left-back and the latter has struggle in parts this season, so Vladimir Coufal and possibly Jarrod Bowen could look to target him.
In Tomas Soucek, Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Michail Antonio we have clear aerial threats that will be looking to assert their dominance on the Leeds defence and we think this could be our best route to victory on Monday.
They will want the ball kept on the floor as they bid to make it a game of endurance and while we have shown adaptability in our game this season, sometimes you just have to mix it up again and exploit what is in front of you.
A barrage of balls into their box could cause trouble for Bielsa in East London.
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