Xabi Alonso has a full strength Bayer Leverkusen squad available when his side entertain West Ham at the BayArena in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The Spaniard rested several players for their 1-0 win at Union Berlin on Saturday with Amine Adli, Victor Boniface, Jeremie Frimpong, Jonas Hofmann and Patrik Schick all finding a place on the bench. Exequiel Palacios has also returned from injury, but it’s likely that Alonso will again opt for Granit Xhaka and Robert Andrich in a double-pivot.
Boniface has played 48 minutes across two games in 2024 since making his return from injury earlier this month. Given a lack of match practise, it’s likely that the Nigerian will start on the bench, with Schick a favourite to start. The Czech forward has been in excellent form of late with five goals in his last six games across all competitions.
Frimpong is also expected to return to the starting eleven, with Edmond Tapsoba likely replacing Piero Hincapié in a back three.
Predicted Bayer Leverkusen XI vs West Ham
Lukas Hradecky – Odilon Kossounou, Jonathan Tah, Edmond Tapsoba – Jeremie Frimpong, Robert Andrich, Granit Xhaka, Alex Grimaldo – Florian Wirtz, Amine Adli – Patrik Schick.
