West Ham will travel to Austria to take on Rapid Wien in the Group H fixture of the UEFA Europa League.
Venue: Allianz Stadion
Key Statistics
- Hammers defeated Rapid Wien 2-0 in the reverse fixture last month.
- West Ham sit at fourth in the Premier League this season with 23 points, two points behind Liverpool.
- David Moyes’ men are undefeated in the Europa League this season and top Group H with 10 points.
- Wien are at the bottom of Group F (3 points), winning 1 and losing 3 out of 4 games.
- West Ham left-back Aaron Creswell has provided the most number of assists (3) in the Europa League this season.
Head to Head record
Last month’s reverse fixture was the first-ever meeting between the two sides, with West Ham defeating the Austrian outfit 2-0.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Rapid Wien: W W L L W
West Ham: W W D W L
Rapid Wien
Rapid Wien have experienced a troubled start to their Europa League campaign, currently sitting at the bottom of Group F with 3 points.
Their form in the Austrian Bundesliga has also been fluctuating this season, as they sit at fifth in the table.
Having suffered back to back defeats, Wien returned to winning ways after beating fellow Austrian club Altach 1-0 last weekend.
Young forward Marco Grull has been in sublime form this season despite Wien’s struggles. He is currently fifth in the Europa League scoring charts after scoring 4 goals.
The game against West Ham is a must-win for Wien to keep their chances alive in UEL.
Possible Rapid Wien line-up: Paul Gartier, Filip Stojkovic, Emanuel Aiwu, Martin Moormann, Maximilian Ullmann, Srdan Grahovac, Robert Ljubicic, Taxiarchis Fountas, Christoph Knasmullner, Thierno Ballo, Ercan Kara
Injured: Leo Greiml, Kevin Wimmer, Richard Strebinger, Lukas Sulzbacher, Lion Schuster, Christopher Dibon
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
West Ham United
West Ham United have punched above their weight for the second consecutive season; they currently sit fourth in the Premier League table and are at the summit of Group F in the Europa League.
However, their impressive run took a hit after succumbing to a 1-0 defeat against Wolves in the weekend Premier League game. Raul Jimenez’s second-half strike sealed the deal for Wolverhampton.
Nonetheless, they are still the favourites heading into the Europa League clash against Rapid Wien, whom they defeated 2-0 in the reverse fixture.
Hammers striker Michail Antonio has been in stellar form in the Premier League this season, racking up 6 goals and 3 assists in 11 games. However, the Jamaican striker has been deprived of goals in the last three matches in the Europa League.
Said Benrahma has also been pivotal behind West Ham’s success this season and he also netted a double in their last UEL game against Dinamo Zagreb.
Moyes’ men are in pole position to progress to the next round yet they would look to keep their leaders’ position intact.
Possible West Ham line-up: Alphonse Areola, Vladimir Coufal, Issa Diop, Kurt Zouma, Arthur Masuaku, Alex Kral, Tomas Soucek, Andriy Yarmolenko, Nikola Vlasic, Manuel Lanzini, Michail Antonio
Injured: Angelo Ogbonna
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Rapid Wien 1 – 2 West Ham