We have reached the semi-final stage of the Europa League and on Thursday the 28th of April we have a meeting between West Ham United and Eintracht Frankfurt. This is the first leg of the semi-final and it will be played at the London Stadium, giving West Ham United home advantage.
West Ham United come into the match on the back of a narrow 1-0 loss at Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
🔎 A closer look at Thursday's opponents...#UEL | #WHUSGE pic.twitter.com/p5yjv7GQJQ— West Ham United (@WestHam) April 26, 2022
🔎 A closer look at Thursday's opponents...#UEL | #WHUSGE pic.twitter.com/p5yjv7GQJQ
It was a good performance from The Hammers despite the fact David Moyes decided to rest several of his regular first team players.
The only goal of the game was scored late on and West Ham United will feel they should have taken a point.
The defeat to Chelsea means West Ham United have recorded just a single victory from their 5 most recent games in all competitions.
The win came away from home against Lyon in the quarter-final of the Europa League and was a fantastic 3-0 victory to see them through to this stage of the competition.
Home form in the Europa League shows West Ham United have lost only 1 of their last 5 matches in the competition on home soil.
In fact, West Ham United are undefeated in 8 of their last 10 home Europa League games. Trends show West Ham United have scored at least 1 goal in each of those 8 fixtures.
Eintracht Frankfurt make the trip to the London Stadium having been held to a 2-2 draw at home by Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on the weekend. Having conceded an early goal, Eintracht Frankfurt came back strongly to lead in the second half but conceded an equaliser with 12 minutes left on the clock.
That result means Eintracht Frankfurt have won only 1 of their 9 most recent games in all competitions. The victory was a fantastic 3-2 win at Barcelona in the quarter-final of the Europa League and the Germans were 3-0 up going into the last minute of the game.
Form in the Europa League shows Eintracht Frankfurt are undefeated in their last 10 matches. They have won 4 and drawn 1 of their 5 most recent away Europa League games and both teams have scored in each of their last 4 on the road.
Looking ahead to the team news and West Ham United are without the injured central defensive duo of Issa Diop and Kurt Zouma.
Eintracht Frankfurt have two players suspended for this game, with Evan N’Dicka and Kristijan Jakic missing out. Goalkeeper Diant Ramaj is injured but would have been on the bench.
This is going to be a hugely competitive game and given the record of West Ham at home and Eintracht Frankfurt away in the Europa League, it is difficult to split them. We expect to see both teams score but this one could end level, setting up an exciting second leg in Germany.