🏏 Sun, 5 Apr 2026 16:30 BST
West Ham United
vs
Leeds United
4-2-3-1 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- An FA Cup quarter-final between two sides both struggling in the Premier League: 18th-placed West Ham (29 points) and 15th-placed Leeds (33 points). For both teams, caught up in a relegation battle in the league, reaching the cup semi-finals could be a major spark to turn the season around.
- West Ham line up in a 4-2-3-1 with Castellanos as a lone striker and Bowen and Traore on the flanks. Leeds set up in a 3-4-2-1 with Piroe up front and Aaronson and Stach as shadows. How high a position Leeds' wing-backs can take against West Ham's back four is the tactical focus.
- Leeds' Ao Tanaka starts as the midfield linchpin. The Japan international midfielder dominates games with ball control that records 90 touches per match and a pass-completion rate over 90%. Watch what performance Tanaka, also named the club's Player of the Year, produces on the big cup stage.
- There are multiple former-club subplots. West Ham's Crysencio Summerville, a former Championship Player of the Year at Leeds, faces his old club. Meanwhile, Leeds' Sam Byram is a former West Ham player. Hopes of a goal against a former club hang over the tie.
- West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen is the face of the club with experience of winning the UECL. With left-footed cut-in shots from the right as his weapon, his matchup with the left side of Leeds' back three is one to watch. The captain's finishing is under scrutiny in the cup.
- Leeds' Jaka Bijol is a Slovenia international centre-back with a background as a former midfielder. With the experience of captaining Udinese and his technique on the ball, he leads the build-up from the centre of the back three. He also brings goalscoring from set pieces, making him one to watch at both ends.
- West Ham's Adama Traore starts as a left-sided midfielder. Will the dribbling of Traore, who boasts overwhelming physicality and pace, ignite in one-on-ones with Leeds' wing-back James Justin? In a pure pace battle, it is one of the most watchable duels.
- Leeds' bench holds a varied attack in Calvert-Lewin, Daniel James and Okafor. The timing of introducing Calvert-Lewin, in particular, who was Everton's main man for nine years, could change the game.