Kidderminster Harriers in FA Cup 4th Round: what do the opponent have in store for them

Two non-league teams, Kidderminster Harriers and Boreham Wood had gone through to the 4th round of the FA Cup. The clubs stunned their opponents, Championship Reading and League One AFC Wimbledon. There are only 12 contenders left in the tournament, and the biggest question is: can the non-league squad make it to the final?

The draw was kind to Boreham Wood, who got Championship AFC Bournemouth as an opponent. Not so much to Kidderminster Harriers, who will face Premier League West Ham on Saturday, February 5th. Both rivals are a significant threat, but how substantial exactly, and what can Russell Penn think of to neutralize the David Moyes squad: let’s see in our newest article.

West Ham season review so far

West Ham: 22 matches, 11 wins, 4 draws, 7 losses; 41-30 gd; 37 points, 4th place.

Best player: Jarrod Bowen.

High scorer: Michael Antonio, 8 goals.

The pundits praise West Ham playstyle and results, as they were last season. The Hammers then achieved 65 points, which is the best result in the entire time of their performance in the Premier League. After the first round of last season, the results were 32 points, goal difference: 27-22.

Not much has changed in 2021-2022, now falling one point short of the mark but scoring seven more goals. With the statistics you have, it’s tempting to predict the Londoners’ following result. Making a bet, don’t forget to do it responsibly, and check the reviews of the bookmakers, such as this https://bookmaker-ratings.com/review/rembrandt-casino-bookmaker-review-rules-support-sign-up-free-bets-site/, to verify the wager safety.

Given the resources David Moyes has at hand, the manager does an excellent job. The Londoners have been at the top for so long that it seems like the place to be. The squad they have is not for fighting for fourth place, though: Transfermarkt, in terms of the team’s total value, ranks West Ham as high as eleventh in Premier League.

The current state of the West Ham squad

The squad depth causes an impact on the team’s fitness, especially in the second part of the season. As Arsenal and Tottenham, other contenders for the 4th place, do, David Moyes doesn’t have equivalent rotation options for his leaders. Out of three London teams, West Ham’s main squad players have to compete in the most number of matches without the fail-safe, and it shows.

In January, The Hammers have started to concede a little more. In that regard, they sit in the middle of the table. Fabianski, the Londoner’s goalkeeper, has just five clean sheets. This is attributed to instability in the defensive line. The Ogbonna-Dawson centre-back pairing started the season, continued with Zouma-Ogbonna. And in December, Dawson and Diop is the main duo.

Angelo Ogbonna is considered one of the most solid defenders of the Hammers. The problem is that the experienced player has been out of the game since November. The defender got knee damage against Liverpool, which was revealed as an ACL injury after the further scan. The recovery period is lengthy, and there have been no official updates since the last year. Kidderminster fans might be sure that this 6’3′ giant would be unavailable in February.

Notable players

The defence’s weakness is outweighed by a powerful attack, second only to the “big three.” Michael Antonio’s personal contribution is eight goals and six assists.

Bowen, along with Rice, is considered the team’s best player. Russell Penn can hardly overestimate Jarrod’s contribution to the attacking performance with seven assists. Only Salah and Trent have more in the whole of the Premier League. Jarrod also scored nine goals in all competitions.

Possibly missing the game

The Londoners might be deemed “lucky” in the recent Covid and injury-filled segment of the season, which they passed almost without loss. The African Cup of Nations, though, hit one of the attack leaders: Saïd Benrahma left with the Algerian national team to defend the winner’s title.

With five goals and four assists at hand, the midfielder is the third most productive player in attack after Michael Antonio and Jarrod Bowen. The Hammers already miss Algerian: West Ham won 18th place Norwich and lost to Leeds, currently 15th.

Prediction

Both Kidderminster and West Ham have shown a lot of fighting spirit in the competition, knocking out the high-ranked opponents. Since the cup is different from the league, it might surprise us. The match though will most certainly come down to exactly that: which team has more stamina and fighting spirit in it.

There are exactly two scenarios regarding The Hammers treatment of this tournament. David Moyes might decide, that his team can’t fight for 4th place in Premier League, play in Europa League, which will continue for West Ham in March, and FA Cup simultaneously. In this situation, West Ham might sacrifice this game and it would be much easier for Kidderminster to win over the Londoner’s.

On the other hand, FA Cup might be the only possibility for David Moyes team to gain a trophy this season. Bowen, Antonio, Rice and others are very enthusiastic and hungry for the wins, but so are Richards, Austin and Bajrami. With the cautious defending and stunning counter-attacks, Kidderminster deserves to be treated as a dangerous opponent.