West Ham and Eintracht Frankfurt meet in London in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals. The two sides have colorful histories and, among other things, one international trophy in their museum. They want to add one more, but in order to do so, the Hammers and the Eagles have to come out as winners from this matchup. There isn’t a difference in quality between these two sides, and they look alike in so many ways. That is something that adds more tension to Thursday’s event.
Preview
West Ham (-105) isn’t in some particular shape, having won just one game in the past five. It was the second leg of the UEL quarterfinals against Lyon in France, and they smashed the hosts with 0-3. The Hammers lost to Brentford and Chelsea (which was last weekend) and had two draws against Lyon and Burnley.
Four of the five latest games were under 2.5 goals, while three of them saw just one side netting. As the season nears its end, West Ham plays much tougher football without too many goals, which wasn’t the case at the start of the year.
What is good, are their performances at home, because the Hammers have just one loss in the last 10 games, winning six events and having three draws. The most recent three were with both teams netting, and the last five had a moderate efficiency, 2 or 3 goals.
Eintracht Frankfurt (+320) also has one win in the last five, also on the road in the Europa League. The Eagles have defeated Barcelona at Camp Nou, 2-3, creating a first-class sensation and stunning the whole of Europe.
This team has massive problems with defense because they couldn’t protect its net in eight of the previous 10 games, while in the past four, Eintracht conceded two or more goals. This is the worst time of the year to experience a decline in the form, so they need to snap out and pull themselves together.
The Eagles like to play defensive-minded football and have a ferocious counter-attack. That is why they post incredibly good results on the road, losing just twice in the recent ten road trips and winning six times.
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Diop, Ogbona, and Zouma are out for this event due to various injuries.
On the other side, Jakic, N’Dicka and Ramaj are out, N’Dicka because of a red card, Jakic due to a yellow-card suspension, and Ramaj due to his injury. Ilsanker and Lenz are questionable for Thursday night.
Head to Head Games
Back in 1976, these two sides met in the semifinals of the Cup Winners’ Cup, when West Ham eliminated the Germans in two games, 4-3 on aggregate. The first meeting in Germany saw the hosts win, 2-1, while the second in London ended 3-1 for the Hammers.
Prediction
We believe that there won’t be too many goals here, and that both managers will be happy to see the game ending with a draw if that is possible. That’s why our pick here is under 2.5 scores, with the current odds on that set at -110.
Pick: Under 2.5 goals -110
Here are the previews for the Europa League semis:
Here are the previews for the Europa Conference League semis:
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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