West Ham travel to Freiburg to decide who will be top of Group A after Matchday 2 of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League season.

SC Freiburg face English side West Ham United for the first time ever as the magic of European football has brought together two clubs who are very much on the up. Indeed, David Moyes’ side won the Europa Conference League last season and a third consecutive campaign in Europe is raising their profile on the continental stage. 

Freiburg finished fifth in the Bundesliga last term and their chances in the second tier of European football are bright this season given their progress so far.

Christian Streich’s side began the season with a 2-1 triumph at Hoffenheim and built on it via a late goal from Maximilian Philipp against Werder Bremen. Their unbeaten start to the season ended in a 5-0 loss at Stuttgart, and it was followed by a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund after conceding two late goals. 

Freiburg got their European campaign off to the perfect start, however, as Olympiacos were dispatched 3-2 in Greece. Leading up nicely to their tie against West Ham who will have their eyes firmly on qualifying for the knockout stage as group winners. 

The Breisgau Brazilians know that a win against the Hammers will do their confidence a world of good and they will be keen to make their home advantage count. 

West Ham will be traveling to Germany safe in the knowledge that they can call on recent experience to navigate stern tests on European nights. 

The Londoners have developed a steely determination under Moyes and their taste of continental success will only deepen that ambition to take on all comers in Europe. 

West Ham started their Premier League season with a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth but got a dream return to the London Stadium where Chelsea were beaten 3-1 by ten men. 

The Irons showed that result was no fluke as Brighton got to find out a week later with another 3-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham. Luton Town proved a tough test in the first-ever top-flight match at Kenilworth Road but the away side still came away with maximum points. 

Unfortunately, West Ham’s four-match unbeaten start to the season was ended by European champions Manchester City who won 3-1, then they won their Europa League group opener with the same scoreline against Backa Topola.

The win against the Serbians came thanks to Mohammed Kudus’ brace, his first strikes for the club, and West Ham now top Freiburg on goal difference. Indeed, their next game is a chance to pull even further by beating their counterparts over 90 minutes. 

The Englishmen are favourites to top the group and they must assert superiority over their nearest challengers in Germany. They possess the tactical flexibility, quality and experience to get the better of most sides in the competition and they will be focused on reaching their primary target of qualifying from the group. 

Match tickets

The game will take place at the Europa-Park Stadion on Thursday 5th October, starting in the early kick-off slot at 5:45 PM UK time. Each club has tickets available for sale on their websites but you can be rest assured that this will be a sold-out match.

Considering that the Europa Conference League winners are coming to town for a massive European night with the top spot in the group at stake, the atmosphere will be incredible, to say the least. The 34,700-capacity arena will be full to its rafters and you can expect Freiburg vs West Ham tickets to be very difficult to get via official channels. 

Hence, supporters may be lucky to find a ticket to attend the game on ticket reselling sites. 

Team news

Freiburg’s injured list includes names like Christian Gunther, Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Michael Gregoritsch who are all ruled out for varying lengths of time. 

Meanwhile, Nicolas Hofler is serving a domestic ban and should be well-rested for this game, meaning he goes straight into the starting lineup against West Ham. 

Luckily for the Hammers, there is less activity on the treatment table to report on as they should have a full-strength squad to face Freiburg. Hence, fringe members of the team will be keen to impress Moyes in a bid to get picked for the trip to Germany. 

Many of the concerned players do not feature regularly in the Premier League and consist of Moyes’ ‘Cup Team’ as they juggle the intense demands of balancing their objectives in the league with ambitions on midweek nights.

Line-ups

Streich has used a back-three as well as four defenders this term but the midfield pivot has been constant to their system. A 3-4-3 shape has been preferred in recent weeks and we could see that again. 

Par for the course, it is the continuity of using the same team that could count in the home side’s favour as they may be facing a makeshift West Ham 11. 

Freiburg: Atubolu; Ginter, Leinhart, Sildillia; Sallai, Eggestein, Hofler, Kubler; Doan, Grifo; Holer

There is every possibility that we will see wholesale changes to West Ham’s regular Premier League lineup with an interesting addition of experience in the likes of Lukasz Fabianski, Thilo Kehrer, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell, Mohammed Kudus and Danny Ings.

Nevertheless, their team will be full of enough quality to get the required result.  

West Ham: Fabianski; Kehrer, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Kudus, Fornals, Benrahma; Ings

Prediction

While Freiburg are battling a patchy run of form in the league, the atmosphere and motivation levels will be different when West Ham visit and they can well eke out a result. The home side do have a poor defensive record this season which may prove their undoing against a Hammers side that seems to have struck a balance across their team.  

With the quality at Moyes’ disposal and their overall form in Europe, they should be at least getting a draw that bodes well for the rest of their group-stage campaign. 

Freiburg 1-2 West Ham