Overview
Not for the first time at the London stadium, West Ham United benefited from a failed panenka to overcome the opponent, when Dango Ouattara repeated a similar mistake to Ademola Lookman, causing Brentford to be eliminated from the FA Cup.
Two times Jarrod Bowen put West Ham ahead, and twice Igor Thiago equalized for the away team. However, in the penalty shootout, Ouattara's disastrous mistake created a difference, when Nuno Espirito Santo's students successfully converted all five shots.
West Ham reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 10 years. The last time they reached this round was in the 2015-2016 season, when they lost to Manchester United in a replay. However, since reaching the final in 2006, The Hammers have never reached the semi-finals.
The relegation battle in the Premier League is still West Ham's top priority, as they are struggling in the dangerous group. Since the victory over Brentford, they have only won one point in two matches - a 1-1 draw with Manchester City before losing to Aston Villa 0-2.
However, the goalless draw with Man City helped West Ham extend their home unbeaten streak to 6 matches in all competitions. However, they have only kept a clean sheet once at the London stadium this season - against Bournemouth.
Elsewhere, the FA Cup fifth round witnessed Daniel Farke's remarkable reunion at Elland Road, where Leeds United easily overcame Norwich City thanks to goals from Sean Longstaff, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Joel Piroe.
Leeds have only won the FA Cup once in history, in 1972, and also ended their long wait to return to the quarter-finals. The last time they reached this round was in 2003, when they were eliminated by Sheffield United.
However, Leeds did not maintain their scoring form when returning to the Premier League, when the Farke team drew 0-0 consecutively against Crystal Palace and Brentford, thereby experiencing 4 consecutive matches without scoring.
That makes them only 4 points ahead of West Ham - the team currently ranked 18th. However, away form is a great support when Leeds is unbeaten in six consecutive away trips and has only lost one in the last 10 matches.
Leeds also defeated West Ham 2-1 at Elland Road in October. However, three of their last four away games in London ended in defeat, and each match conceded at least 2 goals.
Personnel situation
West Ham United may face Leeds United without the service of former winger Crysencio Summerville, who is still in the process of recovering from a calf injury. However, coach Nuno Espirito Santo has not completely ruled out the possibility that he will play in the pre-match press conference.
Center-back Jean-Clair Todibo is also in an open situation for similar reasons, while veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski still has back problems and has not determined a return date.
Kyle Walker-Peters, Taty Castellanos, Soungoutou Magassa, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Tomas Soucek will all miss the semi-finals (if the home team advances) if they receive another yellow card in this match.
On the Leeds side, left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson has returned after a suspension in the Premier League and is also expected to overcome a minor knee problem encountered while on duty with the national team.
Gudmundsson is one of two cases that worried Leeds after the international gathering. Dominic Calvert-Lewin also had to withdraw from the England national team due to a hamstring injury, and coach Daniel Farke could not guarantee his ability to play in the next match.
Meanwhile, striker Noah Okafor has returned after a hamstring injury in the match against Brentford, but was removed from the Swiss national team list as a precautionary measure. However, his condition is not worrying.
Expected lineup:
West Ham: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf, Soucek, Magassa, Fernandes, Bowen, Wilson, Traore.
Leeds United: Perri, Struijk, Bijol, Rodon, Bogle, Stach, Longstaff, Ampadu, Justin, Aaronson, Nmecha.
The match between West Ham United and Leeds United takes place at 10:30 p.m. on April 5 (Vietnam time).
