Why isn’t Edson Álvarez playing for West Ham against Leverkusen?

After winning the 2023 UEFA Conference League with a victory over Serie A side Fiorentina in Prague, the East London side are aiming for a European double as they progress in the 2023-24 Europa League competition.

David Moyes’ men topped their group and progressed to the Round of 16 where they disposed of Bundesliga side SC Freiburg with a 5-1 aggregate win which secured a berth in the quarterfinals.

Their opponents at this stage of the tournament also hail from the Bundesliga but with one hand on a historic domestic league win, Bayer Leverkusen will, no doubt offer sterner opposition with Xabi Alonso doing an incredible job with the “Werkself” taking the team from relegation candidates to German champions should they beat Werder Bremen on Sunday.

No Álvarez in Germany

A 73rd minute foul on Freiburg’s Eggestein will see the Mexican defensive midfielder sitting out the clash at the Bay Arena with the card marking his fifth of a cycle in the Europa League which incurs a one match suspension.

His suspension is a blow for boss David Moyes with the 26-year-old one of the Hammers regulars having played 26 Premier League games and six Europa League ties in the current season.

Jarrod Bowen has also failed to travel to Germany with the Hammers top scorer suffering with an ankle problem so with the pair both missing, Moyes will have to shuffle his pack and could switch to a back five in a bid to match up with the home side’s wing-back system.

Predicted West Ham XI (3-4-2-1): Fabianski; Zouma, Mavropanos, Cresswell; Coufal, Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Emerson; Kudus, Paqueta and Antonio.