'Soucek has been phenomenal for West Ham' - what Sheffield United can expect from the Euro-chasing Hammers

The Blades head south on the back of a midweek 1-0 win over Bristol City in the FA Cup fifth round – their sixth victory in 10 games across all competitions in 2021.

But despite an upturn in form, Chris Wilder’s side went into the weekend at the bottom of the Premier League and 12 points from safety with just 15 games of the season remaining.

As for the Hammers, David Moyes’ men will start Monday’s game at the London Stadium in sixth place just a point behind the Champions League standings having produced some impressive performances since the turn of the year.

We asked Tom Clark, the West Ham correspondent for Football.London, to give us the lowdown on the boys from the East End.

Let’s take a look at what he had to say.

What have you made of West Ham's season so far?

Despite an unadventurous showing in the cup against Man Utd, WH have been playing really well throughout 2021, they have only suffered two defeats in 12, against Liverpool and Man Utd.

The performance against Villa was the most impressive of late. A solid defensive and then three excellent goals on the counter-attack.

The recent upturn in form has come from the solid and stable backline of Coufal, Ogbonna, Dawson and Cresswell, a four that won't be playing together v SU.

With Rice and Soucek sitting in front they have looked defensively solid and with Antonio back from injury the Hammers have looked a lot better going forward with pace.

In general, it has been a really positive season for WH, great recruitment, although a striker would not have gone amiss in January and considering where they were a year ago it has been a remarkable job from Moyes.

Who have been the stand-out performers for the Hammers and their main threats?

Soucek has been phenomenal for West Ham, he is the top-scorer and a threat both in the air and when arriving late in the box, he is most definitely the man to look out for.

If Antonio is fit, as expected, he is another to be wary of, there were some really good signs of him Said Benrahma and Lingard already forming a great understanding going forward.

He's had two games and in one looked like a world-beater and in the other struggled to get into the game.

Lingard's debut was superb, he scored twice and was involved in everything positive West Ham did, he played as the no.10 and saw more of the ball than anyone else on the pitch, including Jack Grealish.

Against Fulham, it was very different. Fulham were very narrow and there was no space for Lingard to receive the ball, he struggled to get into the game and even when he was moved out to the left he still had little impact.

He is clearly a very good footballer, but he needs space to operate in something Villa allowed him and Fulham did not.

What would be a 'successful' season for West Ham - where do you expect them to finish?

Start of the season a solid mid-table finish would have been progress, but now a Europa League spot is the aim and after a brilliant start to the year it would be a massive shame if the club were to slide down the table.

I see no reason why a top-seven finish shouldn't be in their sights, a lot depends on Antonio's fitness though.

What did supporters make of the club's business during the January transfer window?

Mixed. Lingard was universally popular and his debut cemented that.

Haller has always split the fan base so again his departure was met with some joy and some disappointment, but everyone was disappointed that nobody came in to replace him, and it could be a costly error.

Snodgrass was very popular at the club and with the fans but he was not playing at all so it was a good move to get his wages off the books and the fans understood that.

What style of football (or system) should United expect to come up against?

4-2-3-1 has been the system used throughout this great run so it would be no surprise to see that again. four solid defenders with the two in front of them providing the ball to an attacking quartet with Soucek making late runs into the box.

But, Ogbonna's injury might see Moyes go back to back three. Either way, Soucek's late runs into the box, Benrahma's defence-splitting passes and Lingard running at the Sheffield United backline will be how WH look to attack.

Score prediction?

2-0 to West Ham, I think Antonio will be back in the team and with his ability upfront, Lingard running at the defence and Benrahma getting a breather at Old Trafford the Hammers will be back to winning ways.

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