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Freiburg will welcome West Ham United to the Europa-Park Stadion in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
The hosts recorded a 3-2 away win in their campaign opener over Olympiacos. Ayoub El Kaabi's brace canceled out first-half goals from Roland Sallai and Vincenzo Grifo after which Maximilian Philipp scored the match-winner in the 86th minute.
The visitors got their campaign underway with a 3-1 comeback win over Backa Topola at home. Mohammed Kudus opened his goalscoring account for the Hammers, scoring a four-minute brace and Tomáš Souček added the third goal in the 82nd minute.
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Both teams recorded 2-0 home wins in their respective league games over the weekend and head into the match in good form. Goals from Vincenzo Grifo and Philipp Lienhart helped Freiburg defeat Augsburg and first-half goals from Jarrod Bowen and Souček allowed the Hammers to beat Sheffield United.
Freiburg vs West Ham United Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The two teams will meet for the first time.
- The hosts will face an English team for the first time, and this will be the eighth match in Europe against German opponents for the visitors.
- West Ham have two wins and five defeats in their seven meetings against German teams thus far.
- The hosts have just one win in their last five games in the Europa League.
- Freiburg are unbeaten in their last three games in all competitions, keeping clean sheets in the last two games.
- The visitors have also kept clean sheets in their last two games, which they have won.
- The visitors have suffered defeats in their last three away games against German teams in European competitions.
Freiburg vs West Ham United Prediction
Breisgau-Brasilianer have suffered two defeats across all competitions this season, with one of them coming at home in the Bundesliga last month. At home, they have suffered just one defeat in their last seven Europa League games. They went unbeaten in the group stage last season and will look to repeat that feat this time around as well.
Christian Streich will be without the services of Christian Günter, Daniel Kofi Kyereh, and Max Rosenfelder through injuries. Yannik Keitel was substituted off with an injury in their win over Augsburg and is sidelined for this match.
West Ham United, the reigning UEFA Europa Conference League champions, have won 15 of their 16 games in Europe. In their previous meeting against a German team, they suffered defeats at home and away against Eintrach Frankfurt in the 2021-22 Europa League semi-finals.
David Moyes might not risk starting in-form striker Jarrod Bowen, who limped off the pitch after being substituted against Sheffield in the second half. He is said to be nursing a knock.
Nonetheless, they have an almost full-strength squad for the match and, considering their record in recent European games, we back West Ham to eke out a narrow win.
Prediction: Freiburg 1-2 West Ham United
Freiburg vs West Ham United Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - West Ham to win
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 3: At least a goal to be scored in the first half - Yes
Tip 4: Vincenzo Grifo to score or assist any time - Yes
