West Ham United head into the second leg of their Europa League semi-final with Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit.
The Hammers make the trip to Deutsche Bank Park sitting in seventh position in the Premier League standings, while Frankfurt are down in 11th place in the Bundesliga.
Match preview
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When Frankfurt got the better of Barcelona at the quarter-final stage, it was perceived that the door had been pushed open for West Ham to make the final of a European competition.
However, the German side showed at the London Stadium why it was naive to expect an easier game, the Hammers being served a reality check within the first minute of the contest.
On some level, David Moyes may be relieved that West Ham are still in the tie after conceding so early, but the Scot will be equally disappointed that he and his squad are travelling to Deutsche Bank Park with a monumental task ahead of them.
Injuries and suspensions have played their part in their poor recent form, West Ham heading into this game on the back of one win and four defeats from seven matches in all competitions.
The latest of those setbacks came at home to Arsenal on Sunday and with Manchester United having moved six points clear in the race for sixth position, West Ham are staring at Europa Conference League football unless they can turn things around on Thursday night.
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Holding a lead ahead of a home second leg, there is an argument that Frankfurt find themselves under more pressure, particularly after a dismal campaign in the Bundesliga.
A six-match winless streak has resulted in Frankfurt dropping into the bottom half of the table, raising the stakes for Oliver Glasner to deliver a trophy in this competition.
The goals from Ansgar Knauff and Daichi Kamada have put the Eagles very much in the driving seat, but it has removed an underdog tag that has followed Frankfurt throughout the knockout stages.
Furthermore, Frankfurt have gone six matches without recording a home win in any competition, their only two victories in 11 outings coming at Barcelona and the home of their upcoming opponents.
Nevertheless, this is a team which has gone 11 matches unbeaten in this year's competition, and extending that further will book their spot against Rangers or RB Leipzig in the final.
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Team News
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Frankfurt will be able to welcome back both Evan Ndicka and Kristijan Jakic after they both missed the first leg through suspension.
However, the pair failed to impress at Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend, and it leaves open the possibility of Glasner placing faith in the same players which impressed in London.
Djibril Sow, Kamada, Almamy Toure and Rafael Borre were all left out of the starting lineup at Leverkusen and will return for this game.
Several players will also be handed recalls to the West Ham XI with Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio only being named as substitutes against Arsenal.
Craig Dawson has served a domestic suspension and will start, while Vladimir Coufal is an option at right-back ahead of Ben Johnson.
While Issa Diop was fit enough to return to the squad at the weekend, the centre-back is unlikely to be drafted back into the team for this game.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, Toure; Knauff, Sow, Rode, Kostic; Lindstrom, Kamada; Borre
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Coufal, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals; Antonio
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 West Ham United (Eintracht Frankfurt to win 4-3 on aggregate)
Given the current aggregate scoreline, both teams will have to find a balance during the second leg, but this is a game between two sides who have struggled for clean sheets of late.
Expect goals aplenty on Thursday night but we feel that Frankfurt showed enough at the London Stadium to indicate that they will be difficult to beat in front of their own supporters.
Top tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a West Ham United win with a probability of 40.82%. A win for Eintracht Frankfurt had a probability of 34.57% and a draw had a probability of 24.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.78%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.25%) and 0-2 (6.31%). The likeliest Eintracht Frankfurt win was 2-1 (7.97%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.46%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood.
