Leeds United head to the capital on Easter Sunday as they face West Ham United in an Emirates FA Cup quarter-final clash, with a final four tie at Wembley at stake.
Following an emphatic 3-0 win over Norwich City at Elland Road in the previous round, Daniel Farke’s side will be aiming to continue their cup run after advancing to the last eight for the first time since 2003.
Goals from Sean Longstaff and Gabriel Gudmundsson got the hosts off to the perfect start before the break, with Joël Piroe adding to the scoreline in the second half.
Prior to the tie with Norwich, the Whites defeated Sky Bet Championship sides Derby County and Birmingham City, with the latter game being decided by a penalty shootout, seeing goalkeeper Lucas Perri produce a fine save at St. Andrew’s.
Sunday’s hosts West Ham needed penalties to overcome fellow Premier League outfit Brentford, following previous wins against Queens Park Rangers and Burton Albion.
In the Emirates FA Cup, the two sides last met in January 2022 where the Hammers ran out victors courtesy of goals from Manuel Lanzini and Jarrod Bowen in the third round of that season’s competition.
Back in October, Leeds defeated Nuno Espirito Santo’s side 2-1 at Elland Road. Two early goals from Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon were enough to secure a vital three points under the lights.
United are coming into the tie following consecutive goalless draws – against Crystal Palace and Brentford – whilst West Ham most recently fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa.
Action from the London Stadium gets underway at 4:30pm and you can follow it all across leedsunited.com as well as on LUTV.
We’ve met before:
Team News:
After the international break, Farke explained how some players have not had a lot of time to link back up with the team but should be still available for the tie. There are doubts around Anton Stach and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, however, who reported hip and hamstring problems respectively in training.
How to follow:
Monthly audio subscribers around the world can listen to every minute of Sunday’s fixture LIVE on LUTV. Bryn Law will be joined by Tony Dorigo on commentary. Pre-match build up begins at 3:30pm with Dom Matteo and Bridie Hannon in the studio! The match has also been selected for television coverage in the UK by TNT Sports.
The view from inside the camp:
Speaking to the media, striker Lukas Nmecha said: “I have never played there [at Wembley] before. It would be amazing. I think for the fans it would be a good day out as well. We are close, so we might as well try and go all the way. It will be a challenge for them as well.”
Read the full interview HERE.
Important supporter information:
Discriminatory language or chanting, including tragedy chanting, is not acceptable, and you could be breaking the law. The club condemns this behaviour and has a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination abuse of all kinds.
Tough measures and sanctions are in place across all English football leagues to tackle dangerous and illegal behaviours within football grounds, and this involves but is not limited to, discriminatory behaviour, tragedy chanting, fans entering the pitch, the use of pyros and throwing objects.
More supporter information can be found HERE.
What has Daniel Farke said ahead of the match?
League position:
West Ham: 18th
Leeds: 15th
Top scorer:
West Ham: Jarrod Bowen (8)
Leeds: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (10)
Officials:
Referee: Craig Pawson
Assistant referees: Lee Betts & Matthew Wilkes
Fourth Official: Peter Bankes
Video Assistant Referee: Constantine Hatzidakis
Additional Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell
