Predicting West Ham's potential Europa League Group line-up

On Friday afternoon, we finally find out the fate of teams into Europa League groups. We try our best to predict the fate and where West Ham might end up.

Let’s start by saying that mentioning West Ham in the Europa League Group Stages is a dream. This is the first time in 22 years that the Hammers have properly made it to this level of the competition. It’s safe to say that they’re due.

So, what lies ahead for Friday’s Group Stage draw? Who will West Ham face, and how far can they make it? The latter part of that question will have to wait a bit, but we can certainly predict who we think they might face and what group they could end up in.

According to UEFA’s official site, the 32 clubs are seeded into four groups of eight in accordance with the club coefficient rankings established at the beginning of the 2021/22 season. It’s important to note that the pot placements are the only official thing; the groups have been completely randomized via the internet.

Predicting West Ham’s potential Europa League Group line-up

Pot 1

This pot will consist of the best clubs in the Europa League base on coefficient rankings. Lyon, Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen, Dinamo Zagreb, Lazio, Olympiacos, Monaco, and Braga have been placed in this pot leading up to tomorrow’s draw.

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Pot 2

Pot 2 still has a lot of potential tough matches here, but the Hammers won’t be facing Leicester City due to their domestic alliances. Celtic, Eintracht Frankfurt, Red Star Belgrade, Leicester City, Rangers, Lokomotiv Moskva, Genk, and PSV Eindhoven have been placed here.

Pot 3

This is where we find the Hammers and a list of clubs they won’t face, at least in the group stages. Besides West Ham, this pot consists of Marseille, Ludogorets, Real Sociedad, Real Betis, Fenerbahce, Spartak Moskva, and Sparta Praha.

Pot 4

Rounding out the Europa Leauge Group pots is the fourth pot. This is where the “supposed” weaker teams sit, but there are never any gimmies when it comes to Europe. Rapid Wien, Galatasaray, Legia Warszawa, Midtjylland, Ferencváros, Royal Antwerp FC, Brøndby, and Sturm Graz round out the list of 32 sides.

On Friday afternoon, UEFA will then draw, at random, how the eight groups will line up when the group stages start in September. We decided to have some fun of our own and randomize our own group stages to see who the Hammers could end up playing.

The Green Street Hammers Random Europa League Group Draw

Group A – Napoli, Rangers, West Ham, Royal Antwerp FC

Group B – Lyon, Lokomotiv Moskva, Real Betis, Sturm Graz

Group C – Lazio, Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahce, Rapid Wien

Group D – Bayer Leverkusen, PSV Eindoven, Real Sociedad, Legia Warszawa

Group E – Monaco, Red Star Belgrade, Ludogorets, Galatasaray

Group F – Olympiacos, Leicester City, Marseille, Midtjylland

Group G – Dinamo Zagreb, Genk, Spartak Moskva, Ferencváros

Group H – Braga, Celtic, Sparta Praha, Brøndby

Next. A view from the opposition: West Ham v Crystal Palace. dark

Like any European tour, some places are more exciting than others, but if the draw ends up like this, the Hammers will have aways days in Italy, Glassgow, and Belgium. Not bad for traveling, or a good view. The draw will take place on Friday at 11 am UK time from Istanbul, Turkey. Regardless of how it turns out, let’s get ready to support the Hammers on their European Tour!