West Ham v Viborg predictions: Injury-hit Hammers can register narrow success

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for West Ham v Viborg in the Europa Conference League playoff round, first leg on Thursday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 7.45pm Thursday

Best bets

West Ham to win by one goal
1pt 3-1 bet365

Gianluca Scamacca to score first
1pt 4-1Power

Team news

West Ham
Nayef Aguerd, Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson remain sidelined and Declan Rice and Aaron Cresswell are suspended but new signing Thilo Kehrer could go straight into the side.

Viborg
No fresh injuries are reported.

Match preview

West Ham are stretched by injuries and suspensions at the outset of their maiden Europa Conference League campaign but they should do enough to secure a narrow first-leg victory in their playoff against Danish opponents Viborg at the London Stadium.

David Moyes will be absent from the touchline as a consequence of his altercation with a ball boy during last season's Europa League semi-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt.

And the Scot will be unable to select Declan Rice and Aaron Cresswell, who received red cards that night in Germany.

Moyes's selection is further complicated by injuries to central defenders Nayef Aguerd, Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson.

It will be a makeshift Hammers' back four and there will be a lot of responsibility on summer signing Flynn Downes, Rice's likely midfield replacement, to offer the defence some protection.

Moyes will also be looking to rotate where possible as he seeks to give some of his key men a break before Sunday's home game against Brighton.

Putting league points on the board has to be the priority, but even if West Ham are well below full strength they should have enough to defeat Viborg, who are among the smaller fry in the Danish top flight.

Viborg qualified for the Europa Conference League after finishing top of the bottom half of the Danish league (which splits into two sections after 22 games), and then winning a playoff against Aalborg by drawing 1-1 and succeeding 3-1 on penalties.

They have come through two rounds of Europa Conference League qualifying – recording a 2-0 aggregate victory over Lithuanians Suduva and a 5-1 success over Faroese outfit B36 Torshavn – but this tie against West Ham is a massive step up in class.

Given the size of the challenge Viborg manager Jacob Friis Hansen is sure to select his best team and hope to build on a strong start to the Danish league campaign which has yielded nine points from five games.

Hansen's team have scored 11 goals in their last five matches and will be hoping to find a way past a suspect West Ham defence, but they may struggle to keep things tight at the other end.

One area where West Ham do have good options is in attack.

New signings Gianluca Scamacca and Maxwel Cornet will be eager to impress on their likely first starts for the club and either could get on the scoresheet.

Scamacca bagged 16 Serie A goals for Sassuolo last term and looks a solid first scorer selection.

Key stat

Four of West Ham's last five home victories have been by a single goal

Inside info

West Ham

Penalty taker Gianluca Scamacca
Assist ace Maxwel Cornet
Set-piece aerial threat Tomas Soucek
Card magnet Pablo Fornals

Viborg

Penalty taker Clint Leemans
Assist ace Christian Sorensen
Set-piece aerial threat Nicolas Burgy
Card magnet Nicolas Burgy

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