David Moyes stands on the brink of history as West Ham complete their Europa Conference League semi-final away at AZ Alkmaar. The Hammers have not won a European trophy since the 1960s but will book a spot in next month’s final if they avoid defeat in the Netherlands tonight.
A comeback win at the London Stadium last week has the Premier League side in the driving seat. Beaten at this stage in the Europa League last year, this Irons team could yet write themselves into the club’s history book despite some patchy domestic form.
Alkmaar, however, are hardly pushovers. They impressed in east London last week and certainly gave West Ham a run for their money, with Moyes lamenting some of the sloppy mistakes his team made. Backed by home support, the Dutch side aren’t out of this yet. Follow the action with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog, Malik Ouzia will be providing expert analysis from the ground!
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Malik Ouzia at AFAS Stadion
Pretty much as expected in terms of the West Ham team. The club were always confident that Michail Antonio would recover from that calf problem in time to start and he has. The only slight questions were over whether Vladimir Coufal might come straight back in at right-back, or whether Angelo Ogbonna might replace Nayef Aguerd, who has a poor afternoon at Brentford on Sunday. In the end, though, David Moyes sticks with the XI from the first-leg.
Confirmed AZ Alkmaar lineup
Ryan; Sugawara, Beukema, Hatzdiakos, Kerez; Clasie, Reijnders, Mijans; Van Breredoe, Pavlidis, Karlsson
Subs: Verhulst, Deen, De Wit, Mihailovic, Lahdo, Bazoer, VanHeusden, Buurmeester, De Wit, Meerdink, Goes
Confirmed West Ham lineup
Areola; Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek, Paqueta, Benrahma, Bowen, Antonio
Subs: Fabianksi, Anang, Johnson, Coufal, Fornals, Lanzini, Downes, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Emerson, Muamba
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“Very good,” Moyes agreed, when informed of Alkmaar’s 25-match unbeaten home run in UEFA competitions, talked up by their London-born head coach Pascal Jansen, who is looking to overturn West Ham’s 2-1 first-leg lead on Thursday. “But I’ve been here and won before.”
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Prediction: West Ham to progress
The Hammers have plenty of experience for these sort of nights now and can put that to good use in a cauldron-like atmosphere.
Alkmaar are very solid at home but West Ham should be capable of grabbing an away goal and defending resolutely to book their place in the final.
A 1-1 draw, West Ham to win 3-2 on aggregate.
