Will the Hammers play to their home strengths?
The international competitions are slowly but surely turning into the home straight. This week sees the quarter-finals in both the Champions League and the Europa and Conference Leagues. We take a look at the clash between West Ham United and Olympique Lyon, who are fighting for a place in the semi-finals of the Europa League. The opponent in the next round will be determined between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Barcelona.
The hosts have shown little consistency in their performances in recent weeks and must tremble to qualify for international competition again via the Premier League. But the Irons have not yet lost sight of the big goal with the final in Seville on 18.5.2022. However, in addition to the aforementioned opponents with Leipzig and Bergamo, there are a few other top-class players in the running to fight for the trophy.
First, however, the English must get the competition from France out of the way. The Blue and Reds are running behind their own standards in the league and have long since lost sight of the top places in Ligue 1. After the early exit in the Coupe de France, the Europa League is now the last chance to qualify for an international competition next year. In the West Ham vs Lyon match, odds on a bet on the visitors are 3.80 at the top.
West Ham – Statistics & current form
The Londoners finished sixth in the Premier League last season and thus entered the Europa League. In Group H, the Irons faced Rapid Vienna, KRC Genk and Dinamo Zagreb. The Bordeaux Reds eventually topped the group and qualified directly for the round of 16.
Even before the last group match, the Hammers had already secured their place as group winners. After four wins and a draw, the team of head coach David Moyes could no longer be ousted from the top of the table. Even the 1-0 defeat at the end against Zagreb did not change anything. With a total of 13 points, the Irons were three points ahead of the Croatians. The defence was particularly impressive in the group phase, conceding only three goals.
Through Sevilla into the quarter-finals
The Londoners met Sevilla FC in the round of 16. The Andalusians were slightly favoured in this clash, but only managed a narrow 1-0 advantage in the first leg. West Ham United managed to overturn that deficit in the second leg and Andriy Yarmolenko scored in extra time for a much-celebrated 2-0 win to advance to the next round. In the West Ham vs Lyon match, the bookmakers’ predictions are in favour of a win for the home side.
West Ham slip out of top flight
In the league, the Hammers are again fighting for an international starting place. From the first 31 games, the Moyes eleven picked up 15 wins and six draws. With 51 points, the Irons are currently sixth in the table, but Spurs, the Gunners and Manchester United still have to play catch-up games, so the starting position can still deteriorate. It will certainly remain exciting until the end of the season.
The hosts have lost four of their last seven competitive games. Besides the 1-0 defeat at Sevilla, they also lost 1-0 at Liverpool and 3-1 at Spurs. In addition, they were knocked out of the FA Cup with a 3-1 defeat at Southampton. But things are going well for the Londoners at home in the Olympic Stadium. They have lost just one of their last nine home games and are the fifth best home team in the Premier League.
Predicted West Ham line-up:
Areola – Cresswell, Zouma, Dawson, Johnson – Rice, Soucek – Fornals, Benrahma, Bowen – Antonio
Last matches played by West Ham:
Premier League
04/03 2022 – West Ham 2 – 1 Everton
03/20 2022 – Tottenham 3 – 1 West Ham
Europa League Final Stage
03/17 2022 – West Ham 2 – 0 Sevilla FC
Premier League
03/13 2022 – West Ham 2 – 1 Aston Villa
Europa League Final Stage
03/10 2022 – Sevilla FC 1 – 0 West Ham
Lyon – Statistics & current form
The French side qualified for the UEFA Europa League via fourth place last season. A 2:3 defeat on the last matchday saw the Blue-Red narrowly miss out on Champions League qualification. In the current season, Olympique is finding it very difficult and the leap into international competition seems rather unlikely.
From the 30 match days so far, Lyonnais have collected twelve wins, ten draws and thus a total of 45 points. That means they are currently only in ninth place in the table, six points behind the international starting places. A tremendous final spurt will be needed if they are to achieve a place among the top five in the final standings.
Lyon without defeat in the Europa League
In the EL, “les Gones” played against Glasgow Rangers, Sparta Prague and Brøndby Copenhagen in Group A. In the entire group phase, the seven-time French champions remained without defeat and collected 16 of the 18 possible points. Only at the end, in the 1-1 draw against the Scots, did head coach Peter Bosz’s team fail to pick up a three-pointer.
Their opponents in the round of 16 were FC Porto. In the first leg, the blue and red team had already laid the foundations for advancing with a 1-0 victory. With this success behind them, a 1-1 draw in the second leg was enough to get them through to the quarter-finals. With 16 goals in the six group matches, the attack was extremely successful. The best scorer was the Cameroonian Toko Ekambi, who scored six times.
Coach Bosz’s problem child is the often holey defence. Keeper Anthony Lopes had to fish the ball out of his own goal exactly 36 times. That is just the tenth-best figure in Ligue 1. And now it’s off to the offensively strong Hammers. There will certainly be a lot of work waiting for the defensive strategists of the French. If you still want to risk a bet on the visitors, you can look forward to odds of 3.80 at the top in the West Ham vs Lyon match for a bet on an away win.
Predicted line-up of Lyon:
Lopes – Emerson, Lukeba, Boateng, Gusto – Mendes, Ndombele – Toko Ekambi, Paqueta, Aouar – Dembele
Last matches played by Lyon:
Ligue 1
04/03 2022 – Lyon 3 – 2 Angers
03/20 2022 – Reims 0 – 0 Lyon
Europa League Final Stage
03/17 2022 – Lyon 1 – 1 FC Porto
Ligue 1
03/13 2022 – Lyon 2 – 4 Rennes
Europa League Final Stage
03/09 2022 – FC Porto 0 – 1 Lyon
West Ham – Lyon Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
The clash between the Hammers and Olympique in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League is the first ever clash between the two teams. At least in the first leg between West Ham and Lyon, the bookmakers’ predictions are for a win for the hosts, who will be looking to create all the conditions for a place in the semi-finals with a good result.
West Ham – Lyon Tip
Final spurt for the international titles! Only four duels separate the teams from the final in the Europa League. The Londoners will be looking to put themselves in a good position at home in the Olympic Stadium for the second leg in a week’s time. The Bordeaux Reds are of course relying on their home strength. After all, the Irons are the fifth best home team in the Premier League.
The visitors, under coach Peter Bosz, ended a run of three games without a win last Sunday, struggling to a 3-2 victory over Angers. However, Lyonnais are not to be taken lightly, as shown by the fact that the Blue and Reds have lost only one of their last ten away games and also surprised in the round of 16 in Porto.
We think that the hosts’ attack around Antonio and Bowen will pose big problems for the visitors’ defence and will give the French a goal or two. Our recommendation for the West Ham vs Lyon match is therefore to bet on a Hammers win at odds of 2.10 at the top.
The defensive line of coach David Moyes’ team has been convincing all along the line in this competition so far, so that we alternatively place a small bet on a home win without conceding a goal in the West Ham vs Lyon match, at betting odds of 3.35.
