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The UEFA Europa League returns with a fresh set of fixtures as Sevilla welcome West Ham United to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash on Thursday.
The La Liga outfit had to overcome a dogged Dinamo Zagreb side in the playoff round, while the Hammers secured a first-placed finish in the group stages.
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Sevilla continued to struggle for consistency as they were held to an uneventful goalless draw by Alaves in La Liga last Friday.
While they are unbeaten in all but one of their last nine games across all competitions, they are winless in three of their last four, claiming two draws and losing one.
Sevilla will look to find form on their return to the Europa League, where they claimed a hard-fought 3-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in February’s playoff tie.
Meanwhile, West Ham failed to move into the Europa League qualification places last time out as they fell to a slender 1-0 defeat against Liverpool in the Premier League.
Prior to that, David Moyes’ men were dumped out of the FA Cup courtesy of a 3-1 loss at Southampton on March 2.
They have now turned their sights to the Europa League, where they enjoyed a fine group-stage run, finishing top of Group H with 13 points from six games.
Sevilla vs West Ham United Head-To-Head
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two sides and they will both be looking to begin their rivalry on a winning note.
Sevilla Form Guide: W-D-L-W-D
West Ham United Form Guide: D-D-W-L-L
Sevilla vs West Ham United Team News
Sevilla
Sevilla will take to the pitch without Suso, Karim Rekik and Anthony Martial, who are all recuperating from injuries. Diego Carlos is also an injury doubt after sitting out the game against Alaves last time out. Thomas Delaney is suspended after receiving his marching orders against Dinamo Zagreb.
Injured: Suso, Karim Rekik, Anthony Martial
Doubtful: Diego Carlos
Suspended: Thomas Delaney
West Ham United
Vladimir Coufal and Angelo Ogbonna have been ruled out through injuries, while Jarrod Bowen is a doubt after suffering a heel problem in the game against Liverpool last time out. Andriy Yarmolenko remains unavailable.
Injured: Vladimir Coufal, Angelo Ogbonna
Suspended: None
Sevilla vs West Ham United Predicted XI
Sevilla Predicted XI (4-3-3): Bounou; Jesus Navas, Jules Kounde, Nemanja Gudelj, Ludwig Augustinsson; Joan Jordan, Fernando, Ivan Rakitic; Jesus Corona, Youssef En-Nesyri, Lucas Ocampos
West Ham United Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Alphonse Areola; Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson, Kourt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell; Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek; Nikola Vlasic, Manuel Lanzini, Pablo Fornals; Michail Antonio
Sevilla vs West Ham United Prediction
On a run of two consecutive defeats, West Ham United will be seeking to end this poor run and get up and running in Europe. However, we predict Sevilla will cancel out the efforts of the Hammers and hold out for a share of the spoils.
Prediction: Sevilla 1-1 West Ham United
