WHZ View: Moyes’ men must stop Eze after impressive Spurs display
West Ham welcome Crystal Palace to the London Stadium on Wednesday night, with both teams coming into the game off the back of great results.
The Hammers were 2-1 winners against Leeds United last time out, while Roy Hodgson’s side took a well-deserved point from the early Premier League pacesetters Tottenham Hotspur.
David Moyes’ side will feel confident about their chances of recording back-to-back victories, but one man that they will need to stop is
While Wilfried Zaha is notoriously Palace’s talisman, Eze’s impact and importance to Palace continues to rise week on week.
The former Queens Park Rangers man was impressive against Tottenham on Sunday, playing five key passes during the 1-1, according to WhoScored.
Playing off the left for Palace, Eze is a player that likes to drift inside into pockets of space, allowing the adventurous Patrick van Aanholt to overlap on the outside.
Eze is proving to be a tricky customer for opposing defenders. Against Tottenham, he completed 80% of his dribbles, registered four progressive runs, and also drew four fouls, as per Wyscout.
On the ball, the 22-year-old is equally as impressive. During the 1-1 draw with Jose Mourinho’s side, he completed 100% of his passes into the penalty and 80% of his passes into the final third, according to Wyscout.
While Palace have previously relied so heavily on the skill and trickery of Zaha, one complaint throw at them is the fact they have missed that truly positive playmaker in midfield.
Eze solves that problem for Hodgson’s side and his eye for a pass is something that the Hammers are going to have to try and nullify on Wednesday night.
It could be the job of Vladimir Coufal to contain Eze at the London Stadium, with the Czech defender doing an excellent job on Jack Harrison during West Ham’s 2-1 win at Elland Road.
The Hammers are only three points off Southampton in fourth going into the game, so another victory at home would continue what has been an impressive first half of the campaign for Moyes’ men.
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