- Leeds have earned the majority of their points at home 
- West Ham have lost five league games in a row 
- Recommended bet: Back Leeds to win

A run of five successive defeats has seen West Ham slip to within goal difference of the bottom three and David Moyes’ men must now be considered serious relegation candidates.

Results have been disappointing and recent performances have been outright worrying, with Brentford simply showing more desire to net both of their goals in a 2-0 victory over the Hammers at the London Stadium last Friday.

Now Moyes’ men embark on a run of three successive league matches against fellow strugglers knowing that they can ill afford to lose to any of Leeds, Wolves or Everton in case victory proves a catalyst for their rivals to motor away from the relegation scrap.

First up is a trip north to face a dangerous Leeds side who held in-form Newcastle to a draw at St James’ Park last time out and have already claimed the scalps of Chelsea and Liverpool this season.

Team news

Moyes has only two confirmed absentees from his squad, with centre-back Kurt Zouma out until February with a knee injury and attacker Maxwel Cornet unavailable with a calf complaint.

Moroccan World Cup star Nayef Aguerd could finally make his second appearance of the season after recovering from injury to take a place on the bench against Brentford.

Leeds will again be without full-back Stuart Dallas, youngster Archie Gray and winger Luis Sinisterra, while manager Jesse Marsch is unlikely to rush striker Patrick Bamford back to action after he recently recovered from a groin problem.

The stats

Leeds have lost three of their last four home matches but, while outclassed by Manchester City, were unfortunate in defeats to Arsenal and Fulham — against Arsenal, the Whites racked up 1.8 expected goals to 0.5 and missed a penalty to lose 1-0.

Indeed, going solely by expected goals, Leeds have been very unlucky in four of their last six defeats.

The underlying numbers offer little solace to West Ham supporters, however.

Moyes’ men have posted a lower xG rating than their opponents in each of their last five Premier League outings, which all ended in defeat.

Two of those were tough trips to Manchester United and Arsenal but home defeats to Crystal Palace, Leicester and Brentford will have alarm bells ringing.

The Hammers have conceded at least two goals in each of their last four league outings and face a Leeds side who have scored 12 goals in their last six matches, despite facing Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Newcastle in that run.

Prediction

While they struggled at in-form Newcastle on New Year’s Eve and were happy to settle for a 0-0 draw, Leeds are an aggressive pressing unit who look to force opponents into errors — and that should pay dividends against out-of-form West Ham.

The Hammers have failed to click all season and were bullied by Brentford in their last outing.

Moyes’ entire backline was slow to react as Ivan Toney was allowed to poke home the opener and Aaron Cresswell was easily outmuscled for Brentford’s second goal.

That does not bode well for a trip to energetic Leeds, so adding over 1.5 Leeds goals to Bet Builder combinations looks a sensible approach.

Back backing the home win looks the best bet with Moyes’ men looking devoid of confidence as they head into a bouncing Elland Road — back Leeds to win, available at 8/5 with LiveScore Bet.