A huge Leeds blow is relief for Everton after what David Moyes told West Ham stars upon making a European final last night.
When West Ham took on AZ Alkmaar for a place in the Europa Conference League final on Thursday night the likes of Leeds United and Everton had more than a passing interest in the outcome.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg, West Ham stood firm against AZ in Holland and scored a brilliant late goal through Pablo Fornals to seal another memorable night in the club’s history.
West Ham will now play Fiorentina in the in Prague on June 7th.
And that could be massive for Leeds and Everton.
West Ham all but officially secured Premier League safety with a 1-0 win over Manchester United just under two weeks ago.
Hammers to have big say on nailing down relegation spots
But for relegation rivals Leeds United and the Toffees, the fight could go down to the final game of the season.
Either way, West Ham – who play Leeds and Leicester in their final matches of the campaign – will have a big say on who drops.
Much is made about protecting the ‘integrity’ of the competition when we reach this stage of the season.
And that’s where Leeds and Everton may have very conflicting views about West Ham’s approach to the last two games.
After Leicester’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool it is now two from four out of of Forest, Everton, Leicester and Leeds to follow Southampton into the Championship.
Huge Leeds blow is Everton relief after what David Moyes told West Ham stars upon making European final last night
Leeds are next up for West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday.
And their fans were undoubtedly cheering David Moyes’ boys on last night in the hope of a European hangover and sweeping changes against them this weekend.
That would be bad news for Everton because when Moyes made nine changes last weekend they were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Brentford.
But a huge Leeds blow is Everton relief after what Moyes told his West Ham players upon making a European final last night.
Hammers captain Declan Rice, Aaron Cresswell and Moyes revealed the players had sung “one more night” to the manager in a plea to remain in Holland to celebrate making the final.
The Allar-Dyche Effect
But there’s bad news for ex West Ham manager Sam Allardyce and Leeds. Because Moyes revealed on BT Sport that he refused to pander to his stars and he had West Ham back in London by 1am ‘to get ready for Leeds’.
Everton, who play Wolves on Saturday, will be delighted. Leeds less so.
The likely reality will be mixed news for both, though. Because Moyes is bound to make changes.
Michail Antonio was seen limping heavily once again having returned from a calf strain for the semi-final second leg. So he almost certainly will not be risked against Leeds.
Rice is another Moyes will be keen to protect. But the captain is almost certain to leave West Ham this summer so the Leeds match will be his last home game for the club. If he doesn’t start he will certainly get on at some stage.
There is also a delicate balance for Moyes now. He can’t just rest all his top players for nearly three weeks. He must find a happy medium between keeping up match fitness and sharpness and fatigue and unnecessary injury.
How he manages that risk vs reward could go a long way to deciding the fate of Leeds, Everton and Leicester.
