West Ham’s Europa Conference League adventure continues on Thursday night when AZ Alkmaar travel to the capital for the first leg of their semi-final tie.
The Hammers will be confident that their Premier League status is now secured after beating Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday, which potentially will ease the pressure on David Moyes’ team selection.
AZ are fourth in the Eredivisie and have aspirations of overtaking an underperforming Ajax side, with their attractive possession-based style of football drawing plenty of plaudits.
The game will be played out in front of a capacity 60,000 crowd at London Stadium, with both sides undoubtedly believing that they have the quality to book a place in the final in Prague.
Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.
West Ham vs AZ Alkmaar H2H Results (Last Five Games)
The two clubs have never met in competitive competition.
Current Form (Last Five Games)
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
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United Kingdom |
BT Sport 1, BT Sport Ultimate |
|
United States |
Paramount+ |
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Canada |
DAZN |
David Moyes must decide whether or not to retain Alphonse Areola in goal ahead of Lukasz Fabianski, having fielded the Frenchman throughout the competition.
Kurt Zouma and Gianluca Scamacca are guaranteed absentees through injury, while doubts remain over the fitness of right-back Vladimir Coufal. Thilo Kehrer deputised against Manchester United, having played the majority of the season at centre-back, and did well to nullify the threat of Marcus Rashford.
Said Benrahma’s impressive performance against the Red Devils should see him keep his place in the starting lineup, which is likely to again condemn Pablo Fornals to a place among the substitutes.
With West Ham’s Premier League status secure barring a dramatic run of results in the dying embers of the season, it’s hard to imagine Moyes not opting to play a full strength side.
West Ham predicted lineup (4-3-3): Areola; Kehrer, Aguerd, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek, Paqueta; Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma.
What David Moyes had to say about AZ Alkmaar
“I think they are having an amazing season and we have a really tough opponent. Any Dutch team will be good. They play good football and are well-coached.
“I knew about how they are building the club. And they have a lot of exciting young players, and signing a lot of young players. It is a great model if it suits your club. Their young players are doing well and it looks like they are…
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