West Ham United begin their UEFA Europa Conference League group stage campaign against FCSB at the London Stadium on Thursday night. There should be plenty of action on this game in the betting markets and sites will be vying for your business. Online betting sites will have offers available, such as the GreenCasino 25 euro welcome bonus, so it’s worth seeing what’s out there before placing your bets.
The Hammers had to settle for a place in the Europa Conference League after narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Europa League for the second consecutive season. After spending much of last year battling for a top six place, West Ham eventually finished seventh in the Premier League – just two points behind Manchester United.
It was a huge frustration for David Moyes but the Londoners now have a very realistic opportunity to win some European silverware as West Ham are the joint favourites, along with Villarreal, to win the Conference League.
They’ve been drawn in Group B along with FCSB, Anderlecht and Silkeborg and the Hammers should be more than confident of progressing to the next phase as group winners. Moyes will be looking to get off to a perfect start with a win over FCSB at home on Thursday.
Betting odds
Unsurprisingly, West Ham are priced as the heavy favourites to win this game with bookmakers offering just 2/11 on a home win. Those who think there could be a shock at the London Stadium can back FCSB at odds of 13/1, while the draw is available at 11/2.
However, we expect West Ham to come out victorious and a 3-0 win looks good at odds of 6/1. Gianluca Scamacca should return up front and the summer signing is 3/1 to open the scoring.
If we combine Scamacca to score first in a 3-0 West Ham win, then we can get very tempting odds of 26/1.
Rotation?
Moyes is expected to freshen things up and rotate his squad with some key players rested following Saturday’s controversial 2-1 defeat to Chelsea. Said Benrahma, Angelo Ogbonna, Max Cornet and Manuel Lanzini are all in-line for recalls.
Scamacca should also return after missing the trip to Stamford Bridge due to illness while Aaron Cresswell will need a late fitness test on a groin injury.
However, Nayef Aguerd is out with a serious injury and Craig Dawson and Benjamin Johnson are also still missing with hamstring issues.
Prediction
West Ham 3-0 FCSB: The hosts are strong favourites for the game and we still expect West Ham to cruise to victory even if Moyes selects a weakened starting eleven. FCSB will be keen to impress back on English soil but the Hammers are backed to start their Europa Conference League campaign with a routine win.