West Ham’s Secret Weapon Emerges Just Days Before Crucial Leeds Showdown

West Ham United’s injury situation just took a welcome turn right before their showdown with Leeds United. The Hammers, under the fresh guidance of Nuno Espirito Santo—fresh off his stint managing Nottingham Forest—are still hunting for that elusive first victory since he stepped in for Graham Potter. After starting with a draw against Everton, they’ve stumbled with consecutive defeats to Arsenal and Brentford, making their upcoming clash with Leeds even more crucial. Leeds, meanwhile, face their own battles with key players sidelined, adding an intriguing layer to this Premier League encounter. LEARN MORE.

West Ham United have been handed a timely fitness boost ahead of their clash with Leeds United.

The Hammers are still searching for their first win under new boss Nuno Espirito Santo, after the former Nottingham Forest head coach took over the reins from Graham Potter.

A draw with Everton began his tenure, before back-to-back losses against Arsenal and Brentford have since followed, with a huge clash against the Whites to come on Friday.

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke confirms multiple absentees

Despite making a somewhat steady start to the season, Leeds are without a win in their last three Premier League outings.

A respectable 2-2 draw with Bournemouth preceded losses to both Tottenham and Burnley, and now manager Farke is set to deal with an additional headache when it comes to his latest team selection.

As relayed by Farke in his pre-match press conference previewing Friday’s game, the Whites will be without forwards Noah Okafor and Willy Gnonto, as the pair continue to step up their respective returns from injury.

“We have to take some late decisions,” began the Leeds boss. “Okafor and Gnonto making good progress, but not able to complete team training this week. More realistic for Noah to be involved. Some illness in the group. [Ethan] Ampadu and [Pascal] Struijk missed team training.”

Defenders Ampadu and Struijk missing out will cause further problems for Leeds, and it is likely that 26-year-old summer signing Jaka Bijol is set for a Premier League debut.

Having so far only played in the EFL Cup, Bijol will be keen to make an impression if called upon, having arrived from Udinese in the summer. He has so far been unable to disrupt the longstanding partnership of Joe Rodon and Struijk.

In FourFourTwo‘s view, West Ham are unlikely to get a better chance at success than on Friday evening, with Leeds’ injury list something of a real worry for Farke.

Predicted Leeds line-up: Darlow, Bogle, Rodon, Bijol, Gudmundsson; Longstaff, Gruev, Stach; Harrison, Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin.