- The West Ham vs Freiburg clash will kick off at 2045EAT.
- West Ham lost the first leg 1-0.
- The Hammers need to win by at least two goals (or on penalties) to advance.
West Ham United and SC Freiburg are set to lock horns in a crunch Europa League knockout clash on Thursday night.
The second leg of the last 16 encounter comes at a time when the hosts are struggling to win matches.
The David Moyes-coached side have only won two of their last 12 matches in all competitions with their most recent fixture ending in a 2-2 draw at home to Burnley FC.
Meanwhile, Freiburg travel to England with a slim advantage having beaten West Ham 1- 0 in the first leg encounter which was played at the Stade Europa-Park on Thursday, March 7.
The goal was scored by Austrian forward Michael Gregoritsch in the tense match which saw the Hammers denied a penalty appeal in the dying minutes.
The Freiburg camp will be seeking to complete their revenge against West Ham, who beat them twice in the group stage several weeks ago.
However, they will have to sweat to overcome the reigning Conference League champions and progress to the next round of Europe’s second-biggest club football tournament.
Here is everything you need to know ahead of the clash.
What time does West Ham vs Freiburg start?
The match is expected to kick off at 8:45 pm Tanzanian time on Thursday at the London Stadium.
West Ham vs Freiburg Team News
Freiburg will miss the services of Philipp Lienhart (groin) and French defender Jordy Makengo (illness).
Max Rosenfelder and Kenneth Schmidt are also expected not to play any role in Thursday’s game due to tendon and abdominal injuries respectively.
Moreover, long-serving head coach Christian Streich will have to make a last-minute decision on Matthias Ginter, who was substituted in Freiburg’s 2 -1 win over VfL Bochum on Sunday.
On the other hand, Brazilian left-back Emerson Palmieri and Maxwel Cornet are likely to be unavailable for West Ham in the must-win clash.
Cornet is currently nursing a hamstring injury with his expected return being after the international break. As for Palmieri, he missed the recent game against Burnley and it is not clear when he will return to the squad.
Should Palmieri not be ready for Thursday’s tie, Moyes will have to rely on the services of Vladimir Coufal, who started against Burnley.
West Ham vs Freiburg Head-to-head
West Ham and Freiburg have faced each other three times in all competitions since the start of 2023 with the Hammers picking up two wins. None of those matches ended in a draw.
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West Ham: 2
Draw: 0
Freiburg: 1
West Ham vs Freiburg Current Form
West Ham: LWWLD
Freiburg: WLDWW
West Ham vs Freiburg Prediction
Although West Ham are enduring a difficult spell at the moment, they are the billed as favorites to win the upcoming match and book a ticket to the next round of the Europa League mainly due to the home support.
In addition, the Hammers have also won two of their recent encounters against Freiburg according to the statistics.
However, a win for them will not come easy because Die Breisgauer head to the London Stadium with their heads held high thanks to the huge first-leg win.
Therefore, football fans should expect an entertaining match that may be decided on penalty shootout.