Kurt Zouma: West Ham confident of ending Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten run | OneFootball

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Kurt Zouma insists West Ham can end Bayer Leverkusen's long unbeaten run tonight — and admits he is already dreaming of emulating Declan Rice by lifting European silverware as captain.

David Moyes's men are in Germany for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final and face a daunting task against a team who, under Xabi Alonso, have not lost in 41 matches across all competitions this term.

The Hammers have developed significant pedigree on the continent with their success in recent years and are looking to reach a third European semi-final in as many seasons, but Zouma agrees tonight's tie at the BayArena may just be their toughest assignment yet.

"Yeah, it could be," the centre-back said. "They haven't lost for 41 games, but it's also a challenge for us, because we know how well they've played this season.

"It's going to be a good game, a tough game, but we're still confident we can do something.

"We know what we have as well and how dangerous we can be. In the game we played at home against Freiburg [the 5-0 win in the last-16], we showed how we can play. It's going to be very tough, but we believe in ourselves."

Zouma was a key part of the West Ham side that ended the club's 43-year trophy drought with their dramatic victory over Fiorentina in last season's Conference League Final.

On that night, he was among the rank and file, as Rice became just the third Hammers captain to lift major silverware, before inheriting the armband following the midfielder's move to Arsenal last summer. Four games away from another final, the 29-year-old says following in his former team-mate's footsteps is already on the agenda.

"That'd be a dream, but also an objective," Zouma added. "We're not too far away, [but there] are still many games to go, starting from [tonight], which is going to be tough.

"But we've done well in Europe for the last two seasons and, hopefully, we can as well this year. It's a huge honour for me, leading the team out in a quarter-final of the Europa League. It's something I never believed I would do.

Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso

AFP via Getty Images

"It was a dream as a kid, to be a captain. I'm very lucky to be captain of this amazing team, a great group of players off the pitch. I'm very proud."

West Ham's task is made harder tonight by the absence of top-scorer Jarrod Bowen through injury, as well as that of midfielder Edson Alvarez to suspension. Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola also remains sidelined, though Lukasz Fabianski (below) has been first-choice in Europe, while Kalvin Phillips has not travelled after sustaining a hamstring problem in training on Tuesday.

Alvarez will be available for next week's second leg in London, while there is hope that Bowen could also return from his back issue in time.

Making sure the tie is still in the balance by that stage, therefore, looks the priority tonight.

The Hammers overturned a 1-0 first-leg defeat against German opposition when hammering Freiburg at home in the last-16, but Zouma insists his men cannot afford to get stuck in damage-limitation mode.

"We all play the game to win, it's all about winning," he said. "We know we're missing a few key players, but we have a good squad and everyone's ready to play.