West Ham United make the trip to Denmark to face Silkeborg on Thursday evening looking to build on their positive start in the Europa Conference League group stages.
On the same evening that the Hammers fought back to defeat FCSB, Silkeborg went down to a late goal against Anderlecht in Belgium.
Match preview
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Having been given the freedom to heavily invest in strengthening his West Ham squad, David Moyes has the tools at his disposal to bid for silverware on both the domestic and European front.
However, their opening group-stage fixture in this tournament was not going to plan for three quarters of the game with FCSB leading at the London Stadium with 21 minutes remaining.
Fortunately for Moyes, Jarrod Bowen, Emerson Palmieri and Michail Antonio all got on the scoresheet to ensure that West Ham netted three times for the third continental fixture in a row.
Although West Ham's next Premier League fixture on Sunday has been saved from rescheduling, full focus will be on this match with Moyes inevitably keen to secure progress to the knockout stages as soon as possible.
Despite a mixed campaign thus far, West Ham have four wins from seven games in all competitions, one of their two defeats being in controversial circumstances versus Chelsea.
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West Ham are no strangers to facing Danish opposition this season having already played Viborg FF in the playoff round, prevailing 6-1 on aggregate.
As it stands, Viborg are two points clear of Silkeborg in the domestic standings, arguably an indication of the level of opponent that West Ham will be playing on Thursday.
Kent Nielsen's team have lost five of their last eight matches in all competitions, the most recent of those being away at Anderlecht last week as Fabio Silva scored an 80th-minute spot kick to decide that contest in Belgium.
On a more positive note, Nielsen witnessed his team return to winning ways at the weekend as they posted a 1-0 victory at home to AGF.
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Team News
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Moyes will be toying with the idea of naming a full-strength lineup after the unexpected weekend off due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
However, Tomas Soucek may only make an appearance off the substitutes' bench due to an ankle injury, and Maxwel Cornet could have to miss this contest due to a knock.
Aaron Cresswell and Craig Dawson may be deemed fit enough for starts, while Gianluca Scamacca could be preferred to Antonio in attack.
Nielsen only made a couple of changes for the win over AGF, and it would come as no surprise if the players who dropped out for that game returned here.
However, Sebastian Jorgensen scored on his recall to the side, putting him in line to feature ahead of Soren Tengstedt on the right flank.
Andre Calisir will hope to retain his spot in the centre of the backline.
Silkeborg possible starting lineup:
Larsen; Sonne, Salquist, Calisir, Engel; Kiynge, Brink, Thordarson; Jorgensen, Helenius, Kusk
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Coufal, Kehrer, Dawson, Cresswell; Downes, Rice, Lanzini; Benrahma, Scamacca, Cornet
We say: Silkeborg 1-3 West Ham United
Silkeborg have shown enough this season and last week that they are capable of collecting points in this group. Nevertheless, West Ham should prove to be too strong for the Danes, leading us to predict another victory in Denmark for the Hammers.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
