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SC Freiburg and West Ham United will square off in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday.
The hosts are coming off a 2-2 draw at home to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga over the weekend. They took the lead through Christian Gunter's 12th-minute strike but Mathys Tel and Jamal Musiala scored to give Thomas Tuchel's side the lead by the 75th minute. Lucas Holer scored with three minutes left to put a major dent in the Bavarians' title defense.
West Ham, meanwhile, saw off Everton with a 3-1 comeback away victory in the Premier League. Beto put the Toffees ahead 11 minutes into the second half but goals from Kurt Zouma, Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez helped the Hammers claim maximum points.
David Moyes' side will turn their focus back to the continent and booked their spot at this stage courtesy of their first-place finish in Group A. Freiburg finished as runners-up (coincidentally to West Ham) before seeing off Lens with a 3-2 victory after extra time in the playoff.
Freiburg vs West Ham Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Both sides were drawn in this season's Europa League group stage. West Ham claimed wins in both games.
- Freiburg have won just one of their last eight games in all competitions (four losses).
- Five of West Ham's last six away games in the Europa League have been decided by a one-goal margin (three losses).
- Eight of Freiburg's last nine competitive games have produced three goals or more, with seven games in this run witnessing goals at both ends.
- The side scoring first have won eight of West Ham's last nine Europa League games (three losses for West Ham).
Freiburg vs West Ham Prediction
Freiburg completed a spectacular comeback as they clawed back from a two-goal deficit at halftime to claim victory over Lens in the playoff. The 'Breisgau Brazilians' have been out-of-sorts in the last few weeks but their memorable draw against Bayern Munich over the weekend should give them confidence.
West Ham have won consecutive games, having not won any of the previous eight in all competitions. David Moyes' side claimed victory in both games against Freiburg in the group stage and will be quietly optimistic of getting a positive result here.
Both sides' style of play is expansive and plenty goalscoring chances could be created. We are backing the spoils to be shared in a high-scoring stalemate.
Prediction: Freiburg 2-2 West Ham
Freiburg vs West Ham Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Draw
Ti 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals
Bold Tip - Both teams to score over 1.5 goals
