Eintracht Frankfurt welcome West Ham to Waldstadion in the second leg of their semi-final tie in 2021-22 UEFA Europa League.
With a 2-1 lead from the first leg, victory or a draw would be enough to see Eintracht Frankfurt advance to the Final.
West Ham however must win if they’re to qualify for the Final although a victory by an one goal margin would see the tie go to extra time and potentially penalties.
Team News
Eric Durm is a doubt for Eintracht Frankfurt after he missed Sunday’s Bundesliga defeat at Bayer Leverkusen through illness.
Evan Ndicka and Kristijan Jakic are set to return after they missed the first leg through suspension, but Diant Ramaj (knee), Jesper Lindstrøm (hamstring) and Christopher Lenz (toe) are sidelined for this clash.
West Ham will welcome Craig Dawson back into contention after he was suspended for Sunday’s Premier League defeat against Arsenal.
Manager, David Moyes could welcome Alphonse Areola, Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio back into the starting line-up, after the trio were only named on the substitutes bench at the weekend.
Ben Johnson (quad) and Angelo Ogbonna (knee) are ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Eintracht Frankfurt have won two of three previous meetings against West Ham in all UEFA competitions (W2, L1), with both victories coming by 2-1 results.
- West Ham lost their only previous away visit to Frankfurt (L1), losing 2-1 in March 1976 in the first leg of 1975-76 UEFA European Cup Winners’ Cup (UECWC).
- Frankfurt come into this second leg with a 2-1 lead just like they did in their previous semi-final tie against West Ham in 1975-76 UECWC, although West Ham fought back to win 3-1 which saw the Hammers advance 4-3 on aggregate on that occasion.
- Eintracht Frankfurt are unbeaten in four of their last five home matches against English opposition in all UEFA competitions (W2, D2, L1).
- Two of Said Benrahma’s three Europa League goals for West Ham were scored away from home,
Prediction
Holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg where they were absolutely deadly clinical, Frankfurt now face the difficult prospect of protecting that lead at home where they have frankly been terrible in 2022 with just one clean sheet in all competitions so tactics and strong defending could be key for the German club.
West Ham meanwhile need to summon the spirit of 1975-76 where they trailed after the first leg but completed the ultimate comeback, albeit at home rather than away but they can take heart from shock second leg wins over Sevilla and Lyon which will motivate them.
David Moyes’ Hammers however can’t afford to repeat their defensive set-piece sloppiness from Sunday’s loss to Arsenal if they’re to stun Frankfurt, although they did look confident on the attack despite lacking that final touch so there is a solid base to build on in this match.
Both teams however did ring the changes at the weekend so I expect a tough fight with West Ham winning out if they’re at their best but Frankfurt won’t make this easy with a near-fully rested line-up set to return.
Prediction: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 West Ham (West Ham to win on penalties)
Result: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 West Ham (Eintracht Frankfurt win 3-1 on aggregate!!)
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