Preview: West Ham United vs Leeds United - prediction, team news, lineups

West Ham United’s 14-year stay in the Premier League will be on the line on Sunday afternoon when they lock horns with Leeds United at the London Stadium in their final fixture of the 2025-26 season.

While the Hammers face an uphill battle to avoid relegation, the Whites are merely playing for pride having already secured their top-flight safety.

Match preview

When West Ham snatched a dramatic 2-1 victory against Everton at the end of April, it felt significant at the time as they showed the battling qualities required in their fight against relegation. However, the Hammers have since failed to build on that momentum and are hanging onto their top-flight status by the thinnest of threads.

A run of three consecutive Premier League defeats against Brentford, Arsenal and Newcastle United has compounded their misery. The slump culminated in a 3-1 away loss to the Magpies last weekend, where travelling Hammers supporters openly turned on the players with chants of “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”.

Nuno Espirito Santo was bitterly disappointed with his team’s ‘disorganised’ defensive display in their 19th Premier League defeat of the season. However, because relegation rivals Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-1 at Chelsea on Tuesday, the fight for survival will go to the final weekend of the season.

West Ham currently sit 18th in the table and two points adrift of safety, knowing that they need to beat Leeds on home soil and hope that Spurs lose to David Moyes’s Everton in North London if they wish to avoid dropping down to the Championship for the first time since 2012. Because Spurs have a superior goal difference to West Ham, a draw should be enough for Roberto De Zerbi's side to survive.

The East London club can take comfort from having lost only one of their last seven Premier League home games (W3 D3), while each of their last five wins at the London Stadium have come against bottom-half clubs. In addition, they beat Leeds 3-1 in their most recent home encounter in May 2023.

Just over 12 months on from winning the Championship title with 100 points, Leeds sit 14th in the Premier League table and are remarkably closer to the top six (nine points behind) than the relegation zone (11 points clear) following a positive run of form during the second half of the season.

Since Daniel Farke switched to a back-five system at the end of November, Leeds have lost just four of their last 24 top-flight matches (W8 D12) and they are currently enjoying an eight-game unbeaten league run (W4 D4), their longest such streak since a 13-game run between May and November 2001.

The FA Cup semi-finalists most recently beat European hopefuls Brighton 1-0 at Elland Road last weekend. Despite facing 19 attempts from a dominant Seagulls outfit, Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a dramatic 96th-minute winner to secure the club’s 11th league win of the season.

Victory for Leeds on Sunday would see them reach the 50-point mark in the Premier League for just the second time in 23 years (59 points in 2020-21), and they could climb to as high as 11th place if other results go their way. However, should the Whites lose and Crystal Palace beat champions Arsenal, they could slip down one place to 15th.

Leeds travel to the capital having already celebrated success at the London Stadium this season, albeit winning an FA Cup quarter-final tie on penalties following a 2-2 draw in April. Farke’s side also won 2-1 against West Ham at Elland Road in October last year and will be looking to complete the PL double over the Hammers for the first time since 2002-03.

West Ham United Premier League form:

Leeds United Premier League form:

Leeds United form (all competitions):

Team News

West Ham United’s only injury concern is with winger Adama Traore, who missed the defeat at Newcastle with a muscle problem and remains a doubt.

Nuno may consider switching from a back five to a four-at-the-back system, which could see Jean-Clair Todibo drop out of the first XI and either Pablo or Soungoutou Magassa handed a start further up the pitch.

Valentin Castellanos, who scored a stunning consolation goal against Newcastle, could replace Callum Wilson up front, with ex-Leeds man Crysencio Summerville and captain Jarrod Bowen - who has assisted eight of West Ham’s last 12 Premier League goals - providing support in attack.

As for Leeds, Noah Okafor will celebrate his 26th birthday on Sunday, but he remains in the treatment room along with Anton Stach (foot), Sean Longstaff (hernia), Gabriel Gudmundsson and Ilia Gruev (both hamstring).

However, Farke has confirmed that Pascal Struijk and Jayden Bogle have both returned to training after recovering from respective hip and hamstring problems that forced them to miss the win over Brighton. Both players could therefore start in defence at the expense of Daniel James and Sebastiaan Bornauw.

Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte, who was ineligible to face his parent club last time out, could make a rare appearance for the Whites. However, Farke may prefer to start with two centre-forwards, with Calvert-Lewin – aiming to score his 15th Premier League goal of the season – potentially playing alongside either Lukas Nmecha or Joel Piroe.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Disasi, Mavropanos, Diouf; Soucek, Fernandes; Bowen, Pablo, Summerville; Castellanos

Leeds United possible starting lineup:

Darlow; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Justin; Aaronson; Nmecha, Calvert-Lewin

We say: West Ham United 3-2 Leeds United

While safe and in-form Leeds pose a significant threat on the back of an impressive eight-game unbeaten run, scoring 12 goals and conceding only five in the process, West Ham’s sheer desperation for top-flight survival should give them the ultimate competitive edge.

Backed by a raucous home crowd at the London Stadium, expect the Hammers to improve on their dire display at Newcastle and dig deep to secure a gritty, high-stakes victory in an entertaining end-to-end contest, which may prove to be enough to avoid the drop.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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