West Ham United will look to make it three wins in a row in all competitions when they hit the road to face SC Freiburg on Thursday.
Bundesliga club SC Freiburg are all set to host David Moyes’s West Ham United in Matchday 2 of the Europa League group stage. Both teams kick-started their Europa League campaign with a win and will now look to build on that result.
SC Freiburg squared up against Olympiacos on Matchday 1 of the UEFA Europa League, and they managed to win 3-2 on the day. It was a hard-fought encounter between two quality teams. But the German club managed to come out on top thanks to their performance in the final third.
They have been unbeaten in their last three outings and will look to add to it when they face West Ham United. The German club are heading into this encounter on the back of a 2-0 win over Augsburg and will be pretty confident of putting up a great fight.
The visitors started off their campaign in Europe with a 3-1 win over Backa Topola. It was a rather comfortable start for David Moyes’s team and they will look for a similar performance when they hit the road to face the German club.
West Ham United have won their last two outings and they are heading into this encounter on the back of a 2-0 win over Sheffield United. The Hammers will be quite confident of getting the right result but it won’t be easy by any means. Meanwhile, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both teams and tries to predict the tactics they could use.
Team News & Tactics
SC Freiburg
The home team will be without the services of Yannik Keitel, Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Christian Gunter. Meanwhile, Michael Gregoritsch is a doubt for this fixture but could be back in time.
Vorfreude steigt! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/R86Uflpy6J
— SC Freiburg (@scfreiburg) October 4, 2023
Christian Streich is expected to go ahead with the 3-4-3 formation, where Noah Atubolu will feature in goal. Matthias Ginter, Kiliann Sildillia and Philipp Lienhart will form the back three.
Meanwhile, in the centre of the park, Roland Sallai and Lukas Kubler will start out wide. The duo will look to support the back three and join the attack when needed. Maximilian Eggestein and Merlin Rohl will feature as the central midfielders. The duo will look to control the pace of this game.
Ritsu Doan and Vincenzo Grifo will play out wide in attack. They will look to link up with Lucas Holer who will be leading the line in this fixture.
Probable Lineup (3-4-3): Atubolu; Sildillia, Ginter, Lienhart; Sallai, Rohl, Eggestein, Kubler; Doan, Holer, Grifo
West Ham United
David Moyes’s team will be without the services of Aaron Cresswell. Meanwhile, they do have a boost as Edson Álvarez is back available after servicing his suspension. He will most likely make his European debut for the Irons in this fixture.
Focus turns to Freiburg 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/F2IS8bBrTX
— West Ham United (@WestHam) October 4, 2023
Moyes is expected to go ahead with the 4-3-3 formation where Lukasz Fabianski will be in goal. Thilo Kehrer and Emerson Palmieri will be the full-backs for this outing. In the heart of the defence, Kurt Zouma will pair up with Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Lucas Paqueta will start in the centre of the park, and he will have the support of Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse. The trio will look to have the majority of the ball possession and dictate the pace of this game.
Said Benrahma and Mohammed Kudus will start out wide on the flanks. They will provide the width to their attacks and also look to cut inside when the opportunity presents itself. Meanwhile, start striker Michail Antonio will be leading the line.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Fabianski; Kehrer, Zouma, Mavropanos, Palmieri; Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Kudus, Antonio, Benrahma
Key Stats
- SC Freiburg and West Ham United are all set to square up against each other for the first time.
- The hosts have never faced an English opposition before while the visitors have faced seven German teams before this outing.
- The Hammers have only won two out of their seven matches against German teams.
- Freiburg have only won one out of their last five Europa League outings.
- The home team are unbeaten in their last three outings and have kept a clean sheet twice.
Player to Watch
Mohammed Kudus
Kudus has not had the greatest of starts to life in England. He was expected to take the Premier League by storm but that hasn’t been the case so far.
However, he did manage to find the back of the net in the Europa League last time out. The 23-year-old versatile forward is expected to have a huge say on the result and he could find himself on the scoresheet once again.
Prediction
SC Freiburg 1-2 West Ham United
Freiburg might have won their first Europa League fixture but their recent is not that great and they might not find it easy against David Moyes’s West Ham United. The Hammers have a squad full of quality. He has a much stronger bench than the German side and the substitutions might play a big part in the result of this fixture. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for the visitors.
