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West Ham United will entertain Viborg at the London Stadium in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying playoffs on Thursday.
The hosts secured direct entry into the playoffs after securing a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League last season. They made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, where they fell to a 3-1 defeat on aggregate to eventual champions Eintracht Frankfurt.
Viborg started their qualifying campaign in the second round. They fought off a challenge from Suduva (2-0 on aggregate) in the second round and B36 (5-1 on aggregate) in the third round to book a date against the Hammers.
West Ham have suffered back-to-back defeats in their two Premier League games without finding the back of the net, so they need to produce a strong display here.
West Ham United vs Viborg Head-to-Head
This will be the first competitive meeting between the two sides. The home team have not faced a side from Denmark yet.
West Ham United form guide (all competitions): L-L
Viborg form guide (all competitions): W-W-L-W-W
West Ham United vs Viborg Team News
West Ham United
Nayef Aguerd is a long-term absentee with an ankle injury while Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson have recovered from injuries and are included in the squad but might miss out on the first leg due to lack of match fitness.
Aaron Cresswell and Declan Rice will serve suspensions carried forward from their Europa League campaigns.
Injured: Nayef Aguerd.
Doubtful: Angelo Ogbonna, Craig Dawson.
Suspended: Aaron Cresswell, Declan Rice.
Unavailable: None.
Viborg
Ibrahim Said and Alassana Jatta have been ruled out of the first leg as they do not have proper compliance with English entry rules for non-EU citizens. Marokhy Ndione, Nils Mortimer Moreno, Lamin Jawara and Mikkel Andersen were absent from the Greens' 2-0 league win on Sunday. It is unclear if they were rested or injured, so their involvement here remains doubtful.
Injured: None.
Doubtful: Marokhy Ndione, Nils Mortimer Moreno, Lamin Jawara, Mikkel Andersen.
Suspended: Ibrahim Said, Alassana Jatta.
Unavailable: None.
West Ham United vs Viborg Predicted XIs
West Ham United (3-4-2-1): Alphonse Areola (GK); Ben Johnson, Emmanuel Longelo, Kurt Zouma; Flynn Downes, Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek, Manuel Lanzini; Pablo Fornals, Jarrod Bowen; Gianluca Scamacca
Viborg (4-4-2): Lucas Pederson (GK); Mads Lauritsenn, Jacob Jensen, Nicolas Bürgy, Christian Sørensen; Justin Lonwijk, Clint Leemans, Jay-Jay Grot, Zan Zaletel; Dan Aniyembe, Tobias Bech.
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West Ham United vs Viborg Prediction
West Ham United are yet to open their goalscoring account this season but will have home advantage in the first leg. The visitors have won four of their last five games and look in good touch at the moment.
Both teams will have some notable absentees here which might impact their performance in this game. Nonetheless, West Ham have the squad quality to secure a narrow win.
Prediction: West Ham United 2-1 Viborg
