Prediction: Draw
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The Premier League is back once again this weekend as continue on through the always-crazy month of December. There are so many teams up and down the top flight who are in desperate need of some points on the board now that we re in the midst of the busy winter schedule, mainly because momentum can be such a vital piece of the puzzle during this time of the year. Today, we re going to be taking a look at what could be a thrilling encounter: Leeds United vs West Ham United.
Leeds
The Marcelo Bielsa era is still going strong in Yorkshire and while there have been a few bumps in the road, they re still giving off the impression of a team that could force their way into the top half of the table. They ve stood toe to toe with the best that the Premier League has to offer so far and they ve come out of it with just five defeats in 11 games, and when you consider that they re a newly promoted side, there are plenty of early positives to take from their top flight return.
Team News
Hernandez and Shackleton are both fitness doubts heading into this game with the confirmed injury absences being Koch, Llorente, Forshaw and Berardi, with Bielsa recently announcing that Ayling will start at centre-back.
West Ham
The resurgence of David Moyes and West Ham United has been one of the stories of the season so far, and even in most of the games they ve lost, they have shown the kind of competitive spirit that many believed the club simply didn t possess. Nobody really knows what their ceiling is going to be but if fans are still wondered about the prospect of relegation, we d suggest that you can probably start to relax.
Team News
The unfortunate news for the Hammers is that it looks like Antonio is guaranteed to miss out, although that should give Haller the chance to make a strong impression. Elseshere, Fredericks and Yarmolenko are both doubts, although the latter is back in training after testing positive for COVID-19 last month.
Factors to Consider
Leeds are in 14th place in the PL whereas West Ham are currently in 8th.
Leeds have won two, drawn one and lost three of their last six games.
West Ham have won three, drawn one and lost two of their last six games.
Leeds have scored seven goals and conceded 11 in their last six games.
West Ham have scored seven goals and conceded seven in their last six games.
Conclusion
This has the potential to be one of the most exciting games of the entire weekend and should serve as a great way to open up proceedings. Both teams play with quite an open style and shouldn t have any problems when utilising their attacking threats, but we also think that they re going to be more conservative defensively than most fans expect. Therefore, we re going to predict an entertaining 1-1 draw at Elland Road.
Prediction: Draw
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