I still think Jarrod Bowen doesn’t quite get the praise he deserves, he’s been just as effective for West Ham in their relegation battle this season as he was when the Hammers won the Conference League a few seasons ago.

He’s West Ham’s top scorer this season with eight goals to his name in the Premier League, and 10 across all competitions. He’s scored two goals across his two starts in the FA Cup this term, managing eight shots across these matches (3.00 per 90), with three of these efforts finding the target (1.12 per 90).

Bowen has also taken 67 shots across his 31 starts in the Premier League this term (2.17 per 90), offering a solid base for him to find the target in this FA Cup clash. Bowen had two shots when these faced off in the Premier League earlier in the campaign, with one of his efforts managing to find the target.

Fresh from his first England cap since 2022, Dominic Calvert-Lewin returns to domestic duties here and is a key player for Leeds. There were doubts over his fitness before the season started, but his effectiveness in the Premier League when fit is undeniable, and this is reflected in the 10 goals he’s scored for Leeds across 23 starts this term.

He’s achieved this tally from a shot output of 58 efforts across his 23 starts (2.46 per 90), and should actually have a few more goals to his name when looking at his personal xG (12.5). Of his 58 efforts in the Premier League, 26 have found the target - working out to an average of 1.10 shots on target per 90. 

Leeds managed five shots on target when these sides met in the Premier League earlier in the season, Calvert-Lewin didn’t manage to find the target with his one effort in that game, but Leeds’ attacking strength at home should see them provide Calvert-Lewin with chances to find the target at least once.

Alphonse Areola was forced into making three saves when these sides met earlier in the season, with Leeds having five shots on target overall and coming away 2-1 winners. Leeds have been a significant attacking force at home in the Premier League this season, managing to draw 2+ goalkeeper saves from their opponents in 11 of their 16 games at Elland Road.

Daniel Farke’s side can relax a bit in the league, having put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone in recent weeks, so this may be a competition that Farke sees as a real opportunity to win some silverware, a win here would put Leeds in the semi-finals.

West Ham have opted for Mads Hermansen in recent weeks, and he should continue in goal. I thought he was judged harshly at the start of his West Ham career after impressing at Leicester, and is now starting to show that form - making 37 saves across his 11 starts in the Premier League (3.36 per game).

No Premier League side is seeing more match corners per game than West Ham this season (11.58). This metric is consistent when looking at their away matches this term (11.56 corners per game), with West Ham conceding more corners than any other side on the road this season (7.00 per game).

This lines up quite well with Leeds’ positive approach at Elland Road. Daniel Farke encourages his side to be on the front foot as often as possible, an approach which lends itself to a high corner count. Leeds are seeing 9.69 match corners per game across their home games in the Premier League this term, racking up 5.56 corners per game themselves in front of their own supporters.

The league meeting between these sides earlier in the season fell just two corners short of this line, with Leeds winning four corners and West Ham registering three. The knockout nature of this tie should see that corner count increase, backed by the seasonal stats of both sides.

The league meeting between these sides at Elland Road saw BTTS as Leeds came away 2-1 winners. You’d think that the FA Cup is not the priority of either of these sides, especially West Ham, who take on Wolves in the Premier League on Friday night in a massive game for their chances of survival.

West Ham have kept the joint fewest clean sheets in the Premier League this season (4), alongside Wolves and Burnley - so it’s not totally surprising that these sides make up the bottom three at the moment. They’ve seen BTTS in three of their last five matches across all competitions, and have seen BTTS in two of their three FA Cup matches so far - only keeping a clean sheet in their 1-0 win over Burton.

Leeds have also seen BTTS in two of their three FA Cup matches so far, which should lead to both sides having chances in this clash. Neither side will see it as a major priority, though both will be aware of the morale boost that reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup could give their fanbase and squad, ahead of a pressured end to the campaign.

The initial league meeting between these sides produced seven goals as Frankfurt came away 4-3 winners. That was at the start of the season, when Frankfurt were persisting with a crazy approach that saw them score as many as they conceded. They have calmed down slightly since the departure of Dino Toppmoller, but still are an entertaining side to watch.

Frankfurt have seen 41 goals across their 13 home games in the Bundesliga this season (3.15 per game), notably conceding 18 goals at home - which is the joint most of any side currently in the top seven of the Bundesliga. They welcome a Koln side that have slowly slipped down the table after a strong start to the season, they’ve failed to win any of their last five matches across all competitions - seeing BTTS in four of these games.

This is a very important game for Alaves, who find themselves hovering above the relegation zone in La Liga. They currently have a three point cushion to Mallorca who occupy the final relegation spot, but could struggle to keep that safety net with the fixtures they have over the next few weeks.

Alaves lost 3-0 to Osasuna when the sides met earlier in the season, though each of the previous three head-to-head meetings prior to that defeat saw BTTS. You can tell Alaves are playing with quite a bit of desperation at the moment, their most recent outing produced seven goals as they came away 4-3 winners over Celta Vigo, marking the fourth occasion across their last five matches where they’ve seen BTTS.

Osasuna were in a bit of trouble earlier in the season, but have since recovered and now have a healthy gap from the drop zone. However, their away record has been poor this term with only two wins from their 15 away matches, losing 10 of these games. They’ve seen BTTS in three of their last five matches across all competitions.

Balogun comes into this game in brilliant form having netted in each of his last four Ligue 1 matches. This has taken his overall tally to nine goals for the season, acting as Monaco’s top scorer domestically. 

Balogun’s run of form was interrupted by the international break, but I think he’ll pick up where he left off and have chances to find the back of the net here. Balogun scored four goals across just seven starts last season, in a season defined by injury, but showed that he is pretty lethal in this division.

Monaco have scored 29 goals across their 14 home games in Ligue 1 this term (2.07 per game), so they shouldn’t have too many problems when it comes to providing Balogun with service. 

Marseille are a very aggressive side, which isn’t always the case for sides battling for European spots, but they’ve collected 61 cards in Ligue 1 this term with only Toulouse (63) picking up more cards than the away side here.

Hojbjerg has been a reliable performer for Marseille this season, and gets through quite a lot of work in central areas. He’s committed 25 fouls across his 23 starts in Ligue 1 this season (1.07 per 90), picking up three yellow cards in the process. 

His battle against Lamine Camara should be particularly interesting for this angle, with the Senegalese midfielder winning 40 fouls across his 16 starts in Ligue 1 this term (2.59 per 90).

Donyell Malen has adapted seamlessly to Serie A, netting seven goals across just 10 starts since joining Roma from Aston Villa. Malen’s speed is often highlighted as his strongest attribute, but he’s an excellent finisher and actually produced a fairly consistent standard in front of goal when he did play for Villa.

Malen has already scored against the likes of Bologna, Como, Napoli and Juventus - so he’s not padding his stats against the minnows of the division, he’s scoring against decent defenders which makes him a good option to find the back of the net in this clash as Roma take on the league leaders.

Malen has already become Roma’s top scorer in Serie A this season, eclipsing the likes of Soule and Wesley despite playing over 10 games fewer than his teammates.

Roma have been quite aggressive as a team in Serie A this season, averaging 14.6 fouls committed per game - which is the third highest tally in the Italian top flight this term. This foul count has resulted in 55 yellow cards (1.83 per game) which are both tallies that Roma exceeded in the initial league meeting between the sides, committing 18 fouls and picking up three yellow cards. 

Cristante avoided a booking in that game, but did commit one foul from the 11 duels he contested. He should be busy here with Inter usually lining up with a midfield three that can outnumber Roma in central areas. Cristante has picked up six yellow cards across his 28 starts in Serie A this season, only Mancini (9) has picked up more yellow cards for Roma in Serie A this season.