The hosts are heading into the match on the back of an impressive 1-0 Premier League-win over Manchester United last weekend, while the Cheese Farmers played out a goalless draw against Ajax in the Eredivisie.
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West Ham United will host AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their UEFA Europa conference League semi-final tie at London Stadium on Thursday night. The Hammers defeated Gent in the previous round of the tournament, while AZ Alkmaar got the better of Anderlecht to reach this far in Europe’s third tier competition. The hosts are heading into the match on the back of an impressive 1-0 Premier League-win over Manchester United last weekend, while the Cheese Farmers played out a goalless draw against Ajax in the Eredivisie.
🆚 AZ Alkmaar
⏰ 8pm (BST)
🏟 London StadiumAll you need to know about tonight’s #UECL semi-final 👇
— West Ham United (@WestHam) May 11, 2023
West Ham will be full of confidence after securing all three points against Manchester United last time out. Said Benrahma’s lone goal in the first-half separated the two sides at London stadium last Sunday and helped the Hammers secure only their tenth league-win of the season. As of now, David Moyes’s side are languishing at the 15th spot in the English top flight standings, having collected 37 points from 35 games, seven clear of the relegation zone. Nevertheless, West Ham finished on top of Group B before overcoming AEK Larnaca and Gent to enter the final four of the Conference League. Gent pushed the English club hard in the quarter-final tie, leading 2-1 on aggregate at one stage before Michail Antonio’s brace and one goal each from Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice in the second leg helped the Hammers secured a 5-2 aggregate victory.
AZ Alkmaar, on the other hand, overturned a 2-0 aggregate deficit to Aderlecht to eventually prevail 4-1 on penalties in the quarter-final tie. Prior to that, the Dutch club stunned Lazio in the last 16 stage. In fact, AZ have only faced English opponents twice in over 13 years. Nevertheless, everyone associated with the Dutch outfit will view this as their best opportunity to win a European trophy. Meanwhile, when it comes to the Eredivisie standings, the The Cheese Farmers are occupying fourth spot, having taken 61 points from 31 games, just two adrift of the top three.
West Ham United probable starting lineup: Areola, Kehrer, Aguerd, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Paqueta, Benrahma, Antonio
AZ Alkmaar probable starting lineup: Ryan, Sugawara, Beukema, Hatzidiakos, M. de Wit, Clasie, Reijnders, D. de Wit, Mijnans, Brederode, Pavlidis
West Ham United
| Opponents | Score |
| Manchester United | 1-0 (W) |
| Manchester City | 3-0 (L) |
| Crystal Palace | 4-3 (L) |
| Liverpool | 1-2 (L) |
| Bournemouth | 0-4 (W) |
AZ Alkmaar
| opponents | Score |
| Ajax | 0-0 (D) |
| Waalwijk | 3-0 (W) |
| Anderlecht | 3-0 (W) |
| Sittard | 0-3 (W) |
| Anderlecht | 2-0 (L) |
The UEFA Europa Conference league match between West Ham United and AZ Alkmaar will take place at London Stadium on Friday at 12:30 am IST.
| West Ham United vs AZ Alkmaar | Key Details |
| Date | May 11 (UK) |
| Venue | London stadium |
| Kickoff time in UK | 8:00 pm (Thursday) |
| kickoff time in Netherlands | 9:00 pm (Thursday) |
| Kickoff time in India | 12;30 am (Friday) |
Football fans in Netherlands can catch the live action via ESPN 2, Veronica TV and Watch ESPN. Meanwhile, those in UK can watch the match on Talk Sport Radio UK, BT Sport network and BBC Radio 5 Live.
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