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West Ham United will host FCSB at the London Stadium on Thursday night in the opening week of the 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League campaign.
The Hammers have struggled to impress this season and currently sit in the relegation zone in the Premier League standings. However, they enjoyed a solid showing in the continental playoffs, picking up a 6-1 aggregate win over Danish outfit Viborg FF.
West Ham opened their continental campaign last season with a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb and will be targeting a positive start here as well.
FCSB have also endured a sluggish start to their league campaign but played well enough in the Conference League qualifiers, beating Saburtalo Tbilisi 4-3 on aggregate in round two before beating DAC 1904 2-0 on aggregate in the next round. They faced Viking FK in the playoffs and won 4-3.
The Romanian side last appeared in the group stages of a European competition back in the 2017-18 campaign and will be looking to mark their return with a win.
West Ham United vs FCSB Head-to-Head
Thursday's game will mark the third meeting between West Ham and FCSB. The two sides last faced off in a two-legged Europa League knockout tie which saw the Romanian side win 2-0 in the first leg before holding on for a goalless draw in the second.
West Ham United Form Guide (All Competitions): L-D-W-W-L
FCSB Form Guide (All Competitions): L-D-W-L-W
West Ham United vs FCSB Team News
West Ham United
The London club will be without the services of Nayef Aguerd and Ben Johnson this week as they are both injured. Aaron Creswell and Craig Dawson both missed out on the game against Chelsea on Saturday and could also sit this one out.
Injured: Nayef Aguerd, Ben Johnson
Doubtful: Aaron Creswell, Craig Dawson, Gianluca Scamacca
Suspended: None
FCSB
The visitors have a fairly lengthy injury list ahead of their midweek clash including Iulian Cristea, Ionut Pantiru, Ovidue Popiscue, Adrian Sut and Andre Dumiter.
Injured: Iulian Cristea, Ionut Pantiru, Ovidue Popiscue, Adrian Sut, Andre Dumiter
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
West Ham United vs FCSB Predicted XI
West Ham United Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Alphonse Areola (GK); Angelo Ogbonna, Thilo Kehrer, Emerson Palmieri; Vladimir Coufal, Manuel Lanzini, Declan Rice, Maxwell Cornet; Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen; Michail Antonio
FCSB Predicted XI (4-3-3): Stefan Tarnovanu; Grigoras Pantea, Joonas Tamm, Joyskim Dawa, Risto Radunovic; Ovidiu Popescu, Malcom Edjouma; Andrei Cordea, David Miculescu, Florinel Coman; Andrea Compagno
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West Ham United vs FCSB Prediction
David Moyes' men are on a run of back-to-back winless outings and have won just three of their eight games across all competitions this season.
The visitors are also winless in their last two games and have picked up just one win from their last four across all competitions. The sheer gulf in class and quality between the two sides should see West Ham win here.
Prediction: West Ham United 2-1 FCSB
