The UEFA Europa Conference League gets underway on Thursday night and West Ham are currently the pre-tournament favourites along with Villarreal. The Hammers looked on-course to qualify for the Europa League once again last season as they were right in the mix for a to six finish. However, a poor end to the campaign saw them narrowly miss out after finishing two points behind Man Utd in seventh place.
David Moyes was hugely disappointed with how last season ended, particularly as they had a terrific chance to win the Europa League and book a place in the Champions League. The best australian casino online tipped West Ham to go all the way in the Europa League, but their semi-final Eintracht Frankfurt ended in heart-break following a 3-1 aggregate defeat. It was a horror blow to the Londoners, and derailed their Premier League form during the business end to the season.
Favourites
Moyes will be determined to make up for it this season and West Ham are currently joint 7/1 favourites to win the Conference League along with Villarreal. Some may be surprised by this given how West Ham have started the domestic season. They currently sit in the bottom three having lost four and won just one of their six Premier League games so far.
Some despondent fans may rather gamble their money on real money casino games
Villarreal will certainly be tough competition as manager Unai Emery is a master in European competitions. The Yellow Submarines have started well in La Liga as they are third in the table – level with Barcelona – after taking 10 points from 12 so far. They will no doubt be there at the business end of the Conference League and provide stiff competition to West Ham.
Fiorentina are the 10/1 third favourites and the Italians shouldn’t be overlooked either. They have some terrific players and a good manager in Vincenzo Italiano. However, they’ll have to improve their form soon as Fiorentina have only won one of their five Serie A games so far.
Fourth favourites to win the Conference League are Nice and they could be the dark horses. They were extremely busy in the summer transfer window strengthening their squad so it will be interesting to see how they all settle. Nicolas Pepe arrived on loan from Arsenal and he’ll be a dangerman in Europe, while West Ham will also be familiar with the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Ross Barkley and Kasper Schmeichel – who’ve also made the move to France this summer.
It’s certainly going to be an interesting adventure for West Ham in the Europa Conference League but they have nothing to fear and should be confident of giving the competition a good go this season. -Ed
Comments
euro injuries
Cresswell, Soucek, and Johnson are all missing in the euro draw tomorrow and I reckon this is where Flynn Downs will step up to the plate and with a bit of luck we might see Schamacca and Paquita play.