Rapid Wien welcome West Ham to Allianz Arena, Vienna, in a huge Group H clash in 2021-22 Europa League.
Anything else than a win could see Rapid eliminated from the competition with one group match left, whereas West Ham are already qualified but victory would see them secure top spot and a pass to the Round of 16.
Team News
Lion Schuster and Lukas Sulzbacher are doubts for Rapid Wien as the pair continue to recover from muscle injuries.
Christopher Dibon (knee) and Richard Strebinger (ankle) are ruled out.
West Ham have no fresh injury concerns after Saturday’s defeat at Wolves as Angelo Ogbonna remains ruled out with a knee injury.
Stat Attack
- Rapid Wien lost their only previous meeting against West Ham, losing 2-0 in East London in late September.
- West Ham are visiting Rapid Wien for the very first time away from home.
- Three of Rapid Wien’s eight goals in Europa League this season have been scored by Marco Gull, with two of his goals coming after 80th minute.
- West Ham have been handed only four yellow cards in their four Europa League matches this season, with the Hammers receiving the first booking in two matches.
- This is the first match involving Rapid Wien and West Ham to be refereed by Sergey Ivanov.
Prediction
Rapid Wien come into this match with just one win in four group matches and given their poor defensive record in the group, this could well be a tough fight for them especially without home fans present to roar them on.
West Ham though will also be in the same boat after away fans were initially banned before Rapid’s home fans were also locked out, yet the team will be eager to bounce back from a narrow defeat at Wolves in which they played well yet just lacked that final touch in a rare off-day display up front.
Now if West Ham can sort out their finishing issues then I just can’t see them coming away with anything less than victory given Rapid’s defensive issues, which could be costly unless they go super defensive and sit deep throughout.
Prediction: Rapid Wien 0-2 West Ham
Result: Rapid Wien 0-2 West Ham