West Ham United hosts Backa Topola in a Europa League clash will mark milestones for both sides. The East Londoners will be playing their first match in continental competition as holders of the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy. Claiming that title in June earned the Hammers a place in the UEL.
Meanwhile the visitors, representing the Serbian SuperLiga, will be taking part in their first ever European group stage clash of any kind, in any format. So history is guaranteed to be made.
West Ham United vs Backa Topola FYIs
Kickoff: Thurs. Sept. 21, 5:45pm, London Stadium, London, UK
Competition: UEFA Europa League Group A
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Fun Fact: In their 11 matches combined, across all competitions so far this season, these two sides have only lost twice (and once each).
Backa has won their other five contests while the Hammers have 3W1D in their other four.
West Ham Team News
No new fitness issues for manager David Moyes, as his Irons came out of the weekend loss to Manchester City unscathed, at least injury wise. So with that in mind, let’s get to the first team prediction.
West Ham United Starting XI Prediction vs Backa Topoloa
Lukasz Fabianski; Thilo Kehrer, Kurt Zouma, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez; Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Said Benrahma; Danny Ings
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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