The positioning of such an important fixture at the end of a two week international break plays havoc with training and squad preparation for both sides. Several players have huge journeys to undertake simply to get home. Leeds have the extra travelling day to get to the capital which as their manager has already disclosed, is playing on his mind.
For West Ham, several have had arduous weeks: Tomas Soucek playing 120 minutes on Tuesday night means he’ll be doing very little training ahead of Sunday’s game. Mateus Fernandes didn’t finish playing until the small hours of Wednesday but with just six minutes on debut the youngster will have been buzzing all the way back across the Atlantic.
Tired legs and arduous games means Nuno is likely to ring the changes
Not started since January: Kyle Walker-Peters
For Aaron Wan Bissaka, however, the combination of a late finish and undoubted jubilation after 120 minutes and an extra time win that saw his Congo side beat Jamaica to qualify (and the Congolese PM declaring the Wednesday a public holiday as a result!), means his will be tired legs arriving back at Rush Green.
For that reason it seems more than likely Kyle Walker Peters will get the nod from Nuno to start in Sundays cup quarter final. (nytimes.com):
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“Walker-Peters has struggled to displace Wan-Bissaka. His last league start was against Nottingham Forest on January 6. Since then, the versatile 28-year-old has played two minutes in the last 10 fixtures”
Fresher legs gives ‘KWP’ a chance to showcase his talents in a quarter final. Walker-Peters has an opportunity to stake his claim on the right back spot in any case, as Wan-Bissaka has shown several distinctly shaky moments in the last few games. It seems like ‘advantage Walker Peters’ in the battle of the hyphenated right backs: Up to him to see if he grasps-it.