The Premier League side sits seventh in the standings, while Frankfurt find themselves in the ninth spot in the Bundesliga table.
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West Ham United will host Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final fixture at the London stadium on Thursday. At a time when the Premier League side sits seventh in the standings, Frankfurt find themselves in ninth spot in the Bundesliga table. Both sides head into the contest on the back of some not so good domestic results as West Ham were defeated 1-0 by Chelsea at the Weekend while Frankfurt played out a 2-2 draw against Hoffenheim.
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See you tomorrow, Hammers ❤️⚒#UEL | #WHUSGE pic.twitter.com/wKjJDKLU1c
— West Ham United (@WestHam) April 27, 2022
West Ham reached the final four of the competition, defeating the likes of Sevilla and Lyon in the previous rounds, both these sides are much superior when it comes to the continental stage pedigree, but the Hammers performed like an established European outfit to reach those ties.Â
The 3-0 thrashing of Lyon in the second leg of the quarter-finals was a testament to the quality that this West Ham side possesses. Goals from Craig Dawson, Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen in France helped the Premier League outfit secure a 4-1 aggregate win after the first leg in London had ended 1-1.Â
On the other hand, Frankfurt overcame La Liga giants Barcelona to make it this far in the competition. The German club registered an upset 3-2 victory against Barcelona in the second leg of the quarter-finals at Camp Nou to secure a 4-3 aggregate win.Â
The first leg in Germany had finished 1-1 after Ferran Torres had canceled out Ansgar Knauff’s opener. Frankfurt went into the away leg as the underdogs but came up with a spirited performance to score three goals through Filip Kostic’s double and Rafael Maury’s first half strike.Â
Although Oliver Glasner’s side are 12 points adrift of the top five in the Bundesliga, his players have relished their tag of dark horses in the Europa League.Â
West Ham have few injury issues with Issa Diop, Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ongbonna on the sidelines. Although the Hammers conceded a last-ditch goal against chelsea on Sunday, Moyes is likely to stick with the same back three with Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell playing either side of Craig Dawson.Â
As for Frankfurt, Glasner will make at least two changes with evan N’dicka and Kristijan Jakic both serving suspensions. Djibril Sow is in line to return in the centre of midfield, with Makoto Hasebe most likely to feature in the back three.Â
West Ham United possible starting lineup: Areola. Johnson, Dawson, Cresswell, Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Musuaku, Fornals, Bowen, Antonio
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup: Trapp, Tuta, Hinteregger, Hasebe, Knauff, Sow, Rose, Kostic, Kamada, Lindstorm, Borre.
The first leg of the Europa League semi-final fixture betweenWest Ham United and Eintracht Frankfurt will take place at the London Stadium and it will kick-off at 12:30 am IST on Friday, April 29.
The match will be live streamed on the SonyLIV app and website, and the JioTV mobile app. Meanwhile football fans in India can also enjoy the action on TV networks, as the competition is telecasted on the Sony Ten network.
