- The Hammers are hoping to overturn a two-goal deficit on Thursday night
- Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in 34 matches in all competitions this season
- Liverpool have been ‘hungover’ since Man United dumped them out of the FA Cup – where has their energy gone? Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
David Moyes hopes Bayer Leverkusen’s players are still drunk from downing giant steins of beer when West Ham take on newly-crowned Bundesliga champions in their crunch Europa League clash on Thursday night.
Leverkusen won the German title for the first time in their history this week and celebrated in wild fashion as players stormed the post-match press conference to drench manager Xabi Alonso in beer before they continued the party in an alcohol-soaked dressing room.
West Ham will wish those hangovers carry into their critical game at the London Stadium where Moyes’s side must overturn a two-goal deficit against a Leverkusen team that haven’t lost in 43 games.
‘Rightly so, why would you not celebrate,’ said West Ham boss Moyes. ‘To be the champions you should celebrate, should enjoy it because the moments go very quickly. I hope they’ve been downing those big giant glasses of beer they get in Germany!’
It’s not the only thing Moyes is hoping for either, as he confirmed that top scorer Jarrod Bowen will face a late fitness test to see if he’s ready to face Leverkusen.
Bowen missed last week’s quarter-final final first leg and the defeat to Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday with a back injury but took part in full West Ham training on Wednesday alongside Kalvin Phillips and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
‘It was great to see Jarrod out there,’ said Moyes. ‘It’s the first time we’ve had him out. I’m not sure yet [if he’ll be involved].
‘We had Kalvin and Alphonse out there as well but I’m not sure about them either. They will all be late calls tomorrow.
‘I would never risk any player if I thought they had chance of injury or it wasn’t right. The player’s welfare is always the most important thing. But you always want your best players back in, you want goalscorers back in as well. Jarrod’s been that for us this season. If he came back it would give us a real lift as well and give the crowd a lift.
‘We have to find a way of making some magic happen.’
Regardless, Moyes insisted the result on Thursday night would have no impact on his future at the club.
The Scot is out of contract in the summer and has said previously there is an extension on the table if he wants to sign it despite perpetual debate over whether he’s the right man to take West Ham forward.
‘It has not got a bearing on my decision,’ said Moyes. ‘Let’s be fair, it wasn’t too long ago we were talking about trying to avoid relegation.
‘As a manager you have to accept that your job is like that. We’ve had lots of ups, some downs as well but in the main it has been really positive.’
While Leverkusen extended their unbeaten season, West Ham missed the chance to move up to sixth in the Premier League when they lost to Fulham on Sunday amid a run of just three wins in 14 top-flight matches as they look to secure European football for a fourth straight season and follow up their Europa Conference League triumph last year.
‘Maybe West Ham are a different sort of club (to Leverkusen),’ said Moyes. ‘This place has never been smooth at any time, I don’t think. This club has bobbed up and down.
‘It’s probably had its highest standing for a long time in the last few years. The people who watch West Ham and come here probably know that’s part of it.
‘I don’t think anyone comes here to have a smooth time, I think it’s always got a tinge of something else about it. It’s a club that has been relegated, it has been up and down, but it’s never been in Europe three times in a row, I know that. Our plan is to try and make it four.’
