West Ham United and SC Freiburg sit atop the UEFA Europa League Group A standings, knotted at 12 points a piece. The Hammers are first and the German club second, vid goal differential tie-breaker, so this final match of group stage play will be absolutely massive.
The winner takes the group, and thus avoids the tournament round of 32. Of course, a draw would be as good as a win for the east London club as that means status quo holds.
West Ham United vs Freiburg FYIs
Kickoff: Thurs. Dec. 14, 8pm, London Stadium, UK
Competition: UEFA Europa League Group A, Matchday 6/6
West Ham United Preview Content: Starting XI Prediction Team News
UEL Group Standing, Form: Freiburg 2nd, WWWLW 12 pts West Ham United 1st, WWLWW 12 pts
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Fun Fact: these two teams met in 1924, for an international friendly, when the Irons became the first team to visit Germany after World War I.
With all this in mind, Irons manager David Moyes will need to put his best foot forward and start a strong team, in a 4-2-3-1 for the UEL fixture. Here is what we think that looks like on Thursday night.
West Ham United Starting XI Prediction vs SC Freiburg (UEL)
Lukasz Fabianski; Thilo Kehrer, Kurt Zouma, Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta, Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma; Jarrod Bowen
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.