Our prediction for this Europa League match:
West Ham United will be aiming to cement top position in Group H when they take on Rapid Wien at Allianz Stadion. The Hammers have been impressive in the Europa League group stages, and, as a result, they have already booked their place in the knockout stages. David Moyes’ men are now on a quest to secure top position in Group H, and we are positive that they will go for a win in Thursday’s clash. Defender Ogbonna should be the only absentee in the away team.
The Austrians, on the other hand, are stuck at the bottom of the table, with only three points in their pocket. Since this has to go down as a must-win game for the hosts, we predict that the Hammers will have a number of opportunities to seal the victory on the break. All Dibon, Schuster, Strebinger, and Sulzbacher are out of contention with injuries for the home team.
Highlighted Player (Filip Stojkovic ):
Following a successful spell with Serbian giants Crvena Zvezda, Montenegro full-back Filip Stojkovic joined Rapid Wien in 2019. Stojkovic was part of the Crvena Zvezda team that defeated Liverpool in the 2018/19 Champions League campaign, and, no doubt, that is considered one of the biggest successes of his career.
The Montenegro footballer is a product of the Bukovik Razanj youth team, and, in 2006 he was spotted by Crvena Zvezda’s scouts. From 2009 to 2017 Filip played for the likes of Sopot (loan), Banat (loan), Cukaricki, and 1860 Munchen before returning to Stadion Rajko Mitic. Nowadays the pacey full-back plays for both Rapid Wien and the Montenegro national team.
He made his debut for the national team in a 1-0 loss to Turkey in 2016. Since Stojkovic is a footballer of Serbian descent, he has eight caps for the Serbia U21 team. The Rapid Wien defender wears the No. 22 shirt at the Austrian club.
Highlighted Team (West Ham):
West Ham United are an English football club based in East London. The club was founded in 1895 and it has to be noted that the club’s name was Thames Ironworks back then. The Hammers were playing their home games at Upton Park from 1904 until 2016, when they moved to the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
West Ham have won three FA Cup trophies (1964, 1975 and 1980) and they were runners-up in 1923 and 2006. The capital club finished the 1985/1986 England first division campaign in third place in the standings and that is the club’s highest placing in the top flight. West Ham United have strong rivalries with fellow London clubs, but Tottenham Hotspur are considered the club’s main rivals.
A number of top-class players were part of West Ham in the past and the likes of Joe Cole, Carlos Tevez, Paolo Di Canio, Paul Ince, Julian Dicks, Shaka Hislop, Michael Carrick and Slaven Bilic are some of them.