West Ham United: Kurt Zouma shares Bayer Leverkusen admission ahead of Europa League clash
Kurt Zouma has now admitted that the Europa League clash against Bayer Leverkusen will be tough for West Ham United.
The Hammers travel to the Bay Arena on Thursday night (11 April) as they look to secure a place in another European semi-final.
Given the superb form of Xabi Alonso’s side, this tie is going to be one of, if not the toughest test available in Europe.
In an interview with Malik Ouzia of The Standard, the West Ham captain has admitted how hard this game will be but remains confident.
He said: “Yeah, it could be. They haven’t lost for 41 games, but it’s also a challenge for us because we know how well they’ve played this season. It’s going to be a good game, a tough game, but we’re still confident we can do something.
“We know what we have as well and how dangerous we can be. In the game we played at home against Freiburg, we showed how we can play. It’s going to be very tough, but we believe in ourselves.”
Who poses a threat for Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham United?
Leverkusen have gone the whole season unbeaten with their last defeat coming against Bochum in a 3-0 defeat in late May 2023.
They have spread the goals amongst their squad but Victor Boniface is their top scorer with 10 goals, according to FotMob.
Two of their most effective players have been their wing-backs. Jeramie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo have been on fire this campaign.
The Dutchman has scored eight goals and registered seven assists across 26 matches in the Bundesliga. A crazily good record from right back [FotMob].
In a similar sense, Grimaldo has racked up an extremely impressive nine goals and 11 assists from left-wing back across 28 games, according to FotMob.
Emerson has been in great form for West Ham but dealing with either one of these two will be an extremely difficult task.
Their star youngster is Florian Wirtz who has been featuring heavily for Germany in recent months for his excellent performances.
This has seen him score eight goals and 10 assists [FotMob]. This has all gone to show that goals are capable are coming from anywhere within their team, this makes them dangerous.
Because of this unique ability, they have become the best-form side in Europe and will certainly be extremely difficult for West Ham to conquer.
If David Moyes can secure a result against Alonso’s side, his stars like Zouma and Co. will have to be on top of their game.
In other West Ham news, £15m striker keen on Premier League move after rejecting contract at current club.
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