West Ham will look to put the pain of last weekend’s controversial 2-1 defeat to Chelsea behind them when they play their first match of the Europa Conference League group stage on Thursday evening against Romanian side FCSB.
The Hammers thought they had snatched a 2-2 draw against their London rivals when Maxwel Cornet found the net late on but a VAR review inexplicably determined that Jarrod Bowen had fouled Edouard Mendy during the build-up despite the Chelsea goalkeeper appearing to have just made a mess of the situation and then feigned injury despite Bowen making minimal or no contact with him.
The result leaves David Moyes’ men in the Premier League relegation zone at this early stage of the campaign, although their performances have warranted more than that, and they will hope to bounce back against an FCSB side enduring their own domestic troubles - with just one win from their first seven games to lie 13th out of 16 teams in the Romanian top tier.
West Ham reached the Europa League semi-finals last term and will have genuine ambitions of winning the Conference League following significant summer investment, with a group also containing Anderlecht and Silkeborg their current focus following a 6-1 aggregate victory over Danish side Viborg in the qualifying round.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the opening match of the group stage.
When is West Ham vs FCSB?
The match will kick off at 8pm BST on Thursday 8 September. It will be played at the London Stadium in Stratford.
How can I watch it?
It will be shown live on BT Sport 2 with coverage starting at 7.45pm. It will be also streamed live on the BT Sport website and mobile app for BT Sport customers.
Team news
David Moyes could stick with the three at the back he deployed against Chelsea at the weekend or revert to a back four, although ultimately the personnel of the starting XI will likely remain similar. Declan Rice’s two-match European ban is over so he could slot into the midfield alongside either Manuel Lanzini or Flynn Downes, presuming Tomas Soucek is rested. Craig Dawson has returned to full training but may not play from the start, while fellow centre-back Nayef Aguerd is a long-term injury absence and full-backs Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson are serious doubts as they battle ongoing muscle injuries.
For FCSB, left-back Ionuţ Panţîru, midfielder Adrian Șut, winger Andrei Dumiter, defender Iulian Cristea and defensive midfielder Ovidiu Popescu are all ruled out with knee injuries. Andrea Compagno may keep his place up top ahead of Bogdan Rusu and Ianis Stoica after scoring in their most recent fixture.
Predicted line-ups
West Ham XI: Areola; Coufal, Kehrer, Ogbonna, Palmieri; Rice, Lanzini; Cornet, Paqueta, Bowen; Scamacca
FCSB XI: Tarnovanu; Pantea, Tamm, Dawa, Radunovic; Dulca, Edjouma; Cordea, Miculescu, Coman; Compagno
Odds
West Ham: 1/5
Draw: 5/1
FCSB: 11/1
Prediction
This is a competition that West Ham will have significant designs on winning and even though David Moyes may rotate his team, they should be far too strong for their Romanian foes. West Ham 4-1 FCSB
