Freiburg and West Ham United will face each other on Thursday night in a crucial Europa League group stage encounter.
Both teams are looking to secure another victory after winning their respective opening fixtures in Group A against Olympiacos and Backa Topola.
Match Preview
West Ham has had a fantastic start to their season, with their only losses coming to Liverpool and Manchester City.
David Moyes’ side has won six out of their eight games in all competitions since August 20th, and they will look to continue their excellent form ahead of their clash with Freiburg.
Despite being in somewhat of a transitional period, West Ham showed their resilience and character by coming back from behind to defeat Backa Topola 3-1 in their opening fixture.
Since then, they have recorded two consecutive clean sheets and wins against Lincoln City and Sheffield United.
Freiburg has been inconsistent since the start of the 2023-24 season, conceding nine goals against Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund in their last two games.
However, they have shown signs of improvement in their last three matches, winning two and drawing one.
They managed to fend off a comeback from Olympiacos to secure a 3-2 win in Greece before a goalless draw at the home of Eintracht Frankfurt.
In their last game, they recorded a second consecutive clean sheet during a 2-0 win over Augsburg.
Freiburg’s solid Europa League form puts them in good stead heading into this fixture, having won their opening game against Olympiacos.
Meanwhile, West Ham is the marginal favorite and will look to continue their excellent start to the season.
Team News:
Freiburg will be without Yannick Keitel, who was withdrawn after just 20 minutes against Augsburg.
Merlin Rohl is expected to replace him in midfield. Defenders Kenneth Schmidt and Maximilian Philipp and Junior Adamu are available options for Christian Streich to call upon.
Meanwhile, West Ham’s second-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is set to feature between the sticks, and Thilo Kehrer, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Mohammed Kudus, and Said Benrahma are all in contention to feature.
Possible Starting Lineups:
Freiburg:
Atubolu;
Sildillia, Ginter, Lienhart;
Sallai, Rohl, Eggestein, Kubler;
Doan, Holer, Grito
West Ham United:
Fabianski;
Kehrer, Zouma, Mavropanos, Palmieri;
Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta;
Kudus, Antonio, Benrahma
Prediction:
We predict a tight and exciting match between the two teams, with Freiburg potentially gaining a share of the spoils at home.
Our prediction is a 2-2 draw between Freiburg and West Ham United.
