West Ham United will host Freiburg in the Round of 16 of the Europa League. With a 1-0 advantage, the German team travels to the English capital. David Moyes’s team was dubiously denied a late penalty.
Preview (West Ham United vs. Freiburg)
In the 2023–24 Europa League group stage, West Ham and Freiburg faced off twice. The Hammers came out on top both times. However, on 7 March, at the Europa-Park Stadion, the Hammers won a potentially significant slice of revenge. Michael Gregoritsch put Roland Sallai’s mishit attempt into the back of Lukasz Fabianski’s net. To Moyes’s confusion and indignation, however, the official stayed with his on-field decision. It making West Ham earn their point on Thursday night. But on Sunday afternoon, the Europa Conference League champions made history the hard way. They rallied from a two-goal deficit against Burnley to force a 2-2 draw in the Premier League. Danny Ings’ rare goal completed the comeback, giving them seven points from their previous nine games in the top flight.
The hosts have now gone 11 games without a clean sheet in any competition. They have only allowed six goals in their last 10 home games in Europe. All of which have resulted in victories. The last continental visitor to win at the London Stadium was Eintracht Frankfurt. For the most superstitious Freiburg supporters, Die Adler’s victory in the Europa League that year was a positive omen, as the team is now only 90 minutes away from making it to the quarterfinals of a major European competition for the first time in its 120-year history.
Freiburg made its Europa League debut in the latter stages of the 2022–2023 campaign, however, they lost 3-0 on aggregate to Juventus. Despite this setback, the squad under Christian Streich’s leadership had two excellent Bundesliga results before defeating the Hammers in the first leg.
Team News
Emerson Palmieri missed West Ham’s Premier League game against Burnley because of a groin injury, It’s still uncertain if the left-back will be fit for Thursday’s match. Moyes will not hesitate to make multiple changes following his team’s lackluster performance on Sunday. The first player off the roster will be Kalvin Phillips. He was benched at halftime against Burnley to extend his horrendous start at the London Stadium. Fabianski, Kurt Zouma, and Edson Alvarez should all be back in the starting lineup.
Matthias Ginter, Freiburg’s star defender, had to be substituted 15 minutes before the end of his team’s victory over Bochum; nonetheless, the Germany international is not believed to be suffering from any serious illness. Though they join Philip Lienhart (groyne), Kenneth Schmidt (abdominal), Max Rosenfelder (tendon), and Daniel Kofi-Kyereh (ACL) in the infirmary, Jordy Makengo (sickness) and Weisshaupt (knock) were both absent from Streich’s team over the weekend. The former is currently back in training.
In spite of his five goals in just 299 minutes of Europa League play this season—one goal every hour on average—Gregoritsch’s first-leg heroics are unlikely to earn him a starting position over Lucas Holer, who was limited to a second-half substitute this past weekend with the second leg in mind.
West Ham United 3-1 Freiburg
For more football previews, click here
