Wolverhampton Wanderers enforcer Leander Dendoncker is eyeing a positive result against West Ham United on Monday night.
The club are looking to exact revenge on David Moyes’ side for the embarrassing result back in September that saw the Hammers run out comfortable 4-0 winners.
It was a brilliant showing from them that night, and they have looked a really strong outfit this season.
Currently sitting in sixth place, they will fancy doing the double against Wolves to get themselves back into the top four.
Part of the reason for West Ham’s success this season has been down to having a really effective midfield, with two players – Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice – playing a huge role.
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And Dendoncker has acknowledged the pair ahead of the game, telling the club’s official website: “I played against him [Soucek] last week for Belgium against the Czech Republic
“He was doing the same over there, just trying to get into the box every time there is a cross and he’s the extra body in the box, which makes it hard for the defence because you don’t know who has to take him, whether it’s a midfielder or a defender.
“Then you have Declan Rice as well who’s staying there for the balance, so they have a really good balance in their team, a lot of qualities, and I think that’s why they are up there in the ranking as well, but we have to just try and focus on our own team.”
The midfield battle will certainly be one to watch at Molineux and will likely have big bearing on the final result.
Hammers midfield top class
Outside of the traditional top six clubs, West Ham duo Rice and Soucek might just be the best midfield pairing in the league in terms of balance and effectiveness.
They really do complement one another fantastically.
Soucek is the big danger in terms of goalscoring, of course, having struck nine times so far in 2020/21.
Perhaps it will be on Dendoncker to nullify the 26-year-old on the night since the pair are similar in physical stature.