Viborg v West Ham predictions: Reinforced Danes to take the game to Hammers
Upset unlikely but fired up Viborg can do themselves credit
Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Viborg v West Ham in the Europa Conference League playoff round, second leg on Thursday.
Where to watch
Premier Sports 1, 6pm Thursday
Best bet
Both teams to score & over 2.5 goals
2pts 11-10 bet365
Team news
Viborg
Ibrahim Said and Alassana Jatta, who were not granted visas for the first leg, are available. Daniel Anyembe is a doubt.
West Ham
Declan Rice is suspended. Nayef Aguerd and Vladimir Coufal are out, Craig Dawson is unlikely to be involved. Aaron Cresswell returns from a ban while new signing Emerson is ineligible.
Preview
West Ham ground Viborg down in London last week to put one foot in the group stage of the Conference League and can withstand what the furious Danes will throw at them in part two of the tie.
Viborg looked decent at the London Stadium last week against an unsettled West Ham side, who eventually made their Premier League pedigree tell in a 3-1 win.
Viborg look stronger than they were a week ago while the Hammers have strike-power on the bench if required. So given that the hosts will have to take a chance at some point, back a repeat of last Thursday with both teams to score and over 2.5 goals.
West Ham were tested early last week before Gianluca Scamacca broke his Irons duck while Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio found the target either side of a Jakob Bonde header. And there were plenty more chances in a decent game.
Viborg are bang up for this. They were fuming that two of their players, Nigerian Ibrahim Said and Gambia's Alassana Jatta, couldn't travel to London, unable to get visas thanks to post-Brexit travel arrangements.
Said had scored in the previous round against B35, Jatta against Suduva in the tie before that, and both add options for coach Jacob Friis as the Danish side strive to overturn a 3-1 deficit at the Energi Viborg Arena.
Admittedly, wins over sides from Lithuania and the Faroes will hardly have David Moyes quaking and Viborg are rightly outsiders, even on home soil.
But West Ham's form probably won't daunt the Danes, either. It's hard to argue with them being 4-5 and shorter given the differences between the divisions, but the Hammers are bottom of the Premier League without a point or a goal to their name.
And, of course, Moyes will be nowhere near full strength. He made changes last week and will do so again three days before they take on Aston Villa.
The Thursday-Sunday schedule didn't stop the Hammers reaching the Europa League semis last year but the indifferent start to this season merely mirrors how they ended 2021-22, when they managed just one win in their last eight.
Given the three goals they scored in the home leg in an open game, this might just be their level at the moment.
Key stat
West Ham have failed to win 12 of their last 14 away matches
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