West Ham United will be aiming to maintain their perfect start to the 2021-22 Europa League on Thursday when they face Genk at the London Stadium.
The Hammers have won both games so far without conceding a goal, while the visitors currently find themselves in third place after one victory and a loss.
Match preview
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West Ham United have enjoyed life in the Europa League so far, with David Moyes guiding his team to two victories in Group H, without conceding a single goal.
The Hammers have won both games 2-0 with Declan Rice having scored in each of those as the England international has proven he is capable of performing at this level.
After a defeat against Brentford before the recent international break, the London-based club rebounded perfectly at the weekend when they beat Everton in Premier League action.
A goal from Angelo Ogbonna proved to be enough to get his team three points as they held out and kept a clean sheet in the match.
West Ham have only lost twice this season across all competitions and have built up plenty of confidence in the early portion of the campaign.
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On the other hand, Genk are heading into this fixture on the back of three defeats, a run which began during their last performance in the Europa League.
John van den Brom's team were defeated by Dinamo Zagreb in a fixture that saw Daniel Munoz be handed a red card, making things even harder for the squad.
They then followed that up with back-to-back losses in the Belgian First Division A against Eupen and Charleroi, and they find themselves sixth in the division at the moment.
Genk did start their European campaign with a victory against Rapid Wien, but those three points had to be seriously fought for with a goal from Paul Onuachu in the 92nd minute securing the result.
A win for Van den Brom's men could potentially see them finish this game week on top of Group H, while a defeat could leave them bottom, proving how important this fixture is.
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Team News
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Vladimir Coufal missed the recent World Cup 2022 qualifiers due to a groin problem, being sent back to London because of it, but despite having a break, the full-back was unable to feature in the recent game against Everton.
Moyes has issues in that area of the pitch as Ryan Fredericks also missed out on Saturday due to injury, but if neither man can get match fit for Thursday, then Ben Johnson will likely retain his place in the starting XI.
Alex Kral is also unavailable for this fixture due to a positive COVID-19 test ruling him out, but experienced midfielder Mark Noble should be an option following a slight niggle to his hip.
Genk will be without Munoz due to the red card he received in their previous Europa League fixture, meaning there will have to be at least one change to the back four.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Johnson, Zouma, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma; Antonio
Genk possible starting lineup:
Vandevoordt; Arteaga, McKenzie, Sadick, Lucumi; Heynen, Hrosovsky; Ito, Bongonda, Ugbo; Onuachu
We say: West Ham United 2-0 Genk
The Hammers will be likely to continue their perfect start to the group on Wednesday as they face a team who have been struggling as of late to create chances.
Because West Ham United have not conceded in Group H yet and have the advantage of being at home, there is a good chance that they should be able to stay on top.
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 52.96%. A win for Genk had a probability of 25.51% and a draw had a probability of 21.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.47%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (7.02%) and 1-0 (6.96%). The likeliest Genk win was 1-2 (6.34%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.39%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that West Ham United would win this match.
