It’s been over forty years since West Ham have treated themselves to such an important European night. Only sporadic appearances in recent decades for the Hammers, often embroiled in the fight to stay in the Premier League and on some occasions even forced to start again from the Championship. But for about a season and a half the team coached by the Scotsman David Moyes has returned to prestigious stages.
Last year’s sensational ride was worth the participation in the Europa League, a competition in which – despite the double weekly commitment and the not so long bench – the London team has been impeccable so far. They finished in the top eight, winning their group and eliminating Julen Lopetegui’s fearsome Sevilla in the round of 16. West Ham looked doomed after a narrow defeat in the first leg in Spain, but West Ham overturned the Andalusians in the return leg at the London Stadium, scoring the decisive goal in the second period in added time through Ukraine’s Yarmolenko.
How Lyon fared
Moussa Dembelé ©️LaPresse
No limits are being set now by Moyes, who would likely cross Barcelona in the event of a pass. In the Premier League, meanwhile, the Hammers are still in the race for fourth place. On Sunday they beat Everton 2-1, thus archiving the defeat they suffered before the break against Tottenham.
The quarter-final awaits Peter Bosz’s Lyon, another club which, like Sevilla in Europe, boasts a fair amount of experience, unlike the English. Dembelé and his team-mates are a nasty customer, abounding in talent from the midfield upwards (Aouar, Paquetá, Faivre) and in the round of 16 they have already been able to overturn the odds by eliminating Porto, beaten 0-1 in Portugal and stopped at 1-1 at the Groupama Arena. However, Olympique remain an inconsistent team that tends to concede a lot of goals, which explains their disappointing ninth place finish in Ligue 1.
The Prediction
The match between West Ham and Lyon looks to be a very balanced affair, with the details most likely to make the difference in the end. Both will need to take advantage of the home factor and in the first leg we see West Ham as slight favourites in a match where Lyon could also score.
West Ham-Lyon
probable line-ups.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Areola; Coufal, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma; Antonio.
LYON (4-2-3-1): Lopes; Gusto, Boateng, Lukeba, Emerson Palmieri; Mendes, Ndombelé; Faivre, Paquetá, Aouar; Dembelé.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
