Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham Preview

West Ham will travel to Germany this Saturday to face Bayer Leverkusen in a club friendly.

The German Bundesliga side has had a poor pre-season losing to Real Sociedad (1-0) and Paderborn (2-1) before securing a narrow 2-1 win over Marseille last time out.

They will now hope to make it two consecutive pre-season wins in this game with Xabi Alonso hoping for a win to mark his contract extension having signed until 2026.

The Basque coach has been a revelation at the Bay Arena as he led Leverkusen to a top-six finish in his first season at the helm despite a poor ending to last season that saw them fail to win any of their last eight games in all competitions.

Meanwhile, West Ham enjoyed a remarkable end to their season as they beat Fiorentina 2-1 to win the Europa Conference League.

They have followed up that final form in pre-season winning three out of their five friendly games, with a 3-1 loss to Rennes in their last outing the only blemish in that period.

With the season opener about a week away from this friendly, they will be desperate to win this game as they prepare for another crack in the Europa League.