West Ham v FC Astra: Europa League Match Preview

West Ham United vs FC Astra (Thursday 25th August 2016, 7.45pm BST)

The Set Up

West Ham head into this match with a dilemma. They secured a 1-1 draw away against tricky opposition and they want to progress into the next round, however they do not want to pick up any more injuries to key players or leave themselves tired for Sunday’s match against City.

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Last season they had the same dilemma. They lost 2-1 away at Astra but then went and beat Arsenal 2-1. This season it appears Bilic is after more. With an away goal advantage and the opposition missing many key players, can they win both?

It would certainly seem counter intuitive for West Ham to spend all year trying to qualify for the Europa League, then bow out of it early on. To be a truly ‘big’ team we need to be able to compete on multiple fronts.

The East Londoners will also want to keep the strong competitive record in the London stadium going, having won 2 out of 2 so far. There’s a lot of pressure on the hammers, but they’ve got a side capable of winning the game comfortably.

The Hammers

Injuries to big players have been the only downside so far, but there is some good new there. Despite worries Kouyate could have picked up an injury in training before the first tie there seemed to be no issues with the player in the game against Bournemouth last weekend.

Payet and Lanzini have also returned to training, although the little Argentinian is not registered for the clash. Payet is more likely to be making any appearance tonight from the bench, especially with City in mind.

The Opposition

FC Astra knocked the Hammers out of the competition one stage earlier last year, but face a different challenge now. Last year Bilic had only just taken the reigns in East London, and had a team that had got into the competition on fair play. This year he has control of a team that pushed for Champions League last season.

FC Astra also have their problems with both staff and players unavailable for the match. Their manager has been banned for betting offences, although is allowed to attend the match by UEFA. They also have a number of injuries to key players, with their top scorer only returning last week.

At the weekend they were comprehensively beaten, losing 5-1 to CFR Cluj. Nope I haven’t heard of them either. In their domestic league FC Astra are 4th from bottom, only above teams that have had points deducted for administration reasons.

It seems like a pretty good time to be taking the Romanian Champions on.

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Suggested Line Up (4-2-3-1)

Randolph;

Byram, Oxford, Ogbonna, Burke;

Kouyate, Nordtveit;

Antonio, Noble, Tore;

Calleri

Prediction

West Ham 3-1 FC Astra

On a proper playing field this Hammers side should win through, hopefully with a goal for Calleri. I don’t want to risk too many players, but I feel Bilic may go with fewer changes than me. Kouyate and Noble are vital for the match against City on Sunday, but we have the international break after to recover. I would also be very wary about putting Payet into the match unless necessary.

Europa League: West Ham v FC Astra: Match Preview

By Scott Johnson | Aug 25, 2016