West Ham United will secure their place in the Europa Conference League final if they avoid defeat at AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night.
The Hammers came from behind to win 2-1 in the first leg of the semi-final last week. Tijani Reijnders’ opener was cancelled out by a Said Benrahma penalty, before Michail Antonio grabbed the winner at London Stadium.
While AZ come into this one off the back of a confidence-building 5-1 win at home to Emmen in the Eredivisie, David Moyes’ much-changed side fell to a 2-0 loss at Brentford over the weekend, halting their momentum slightly.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the second leg.
AZ Alkmaar vs West Ham H2H Results
Current Form (Last Five Games)
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BT Sport 1 |
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Paramount+ |
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The hosts are expected to be without Sem Westerveld due to a knee injury, while ex-Stoke City defender Bruno Martins Indi is facing a race against time to recover from a hip problem.
Pascal Jansen could revert to the team that was narrowly beaten in east London last week.
AZ Alkmaar predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Ryan; Sugawara, Beukema, Hatzidiakos, De Wit; Reijnders, Clasie; Odgaard, Mijnans, Van Brederode; Pavlidis
Moyes made seven changes for Sunday’s loss at Brentford but is likely to bring those players back into the fold.
West Ham remain without Vladimir Coufal and Gianluca Scamacca but are hopeful of Michail Antonio overcoming a calf injury for the trip to the Netherlands.
West Ham predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Areola; Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Paqueta, Benrahma; Antonio
Moyes said that reaching a European final would be his crowning managerial moment ahead of the first leg, and his side have a great chance of making it to Prague.
While AZ have knocked out some relatively big hitters on the way to the semi-finals – most notably eliminating Lazio in the last 16 – they may lack that nous needed deep into such a competition.
West Ham fell short to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League one year ago and they’d be damned to go home at this stage once more – all they need to do is not lose. That’s not too much to ask, right?
Prediction: AZ Alkmaar 1-1 West Ham (2-3 on aggregate)
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