West Ham United get their Europa Conference League group-stage campaign underway with a contest against FCSB on Thursday evening.
At a time when the Hammers are occupying a spot in the Premier League relegation zone, FCSB find themselves towards the bottom of Romania's equivalent.
Match preview
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The Premier League table does not read well for West Ham right now with the club sitting in 18th position with four points from six games.
However, West Ham's performances have generally deserved better, while only a controversial VAR decision prevented them from earning a 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Saturday.
At a time when they only sit six points off the top six, David Moyes will not be overly concerned while his players continue to produce displays which will eventually lead to more victories.
While this competition represents a welcome break from domestic matters, it is also a tournament which West Ham will expect to win given the level of investment over the summer.
Regardless of squad rotation, the East London outfit should possess more quality than the majority of other clubs involved, and they will be motivated to start with a win having coming through the playoff round against Viborg FF.
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New arrival Gianluca Scamacca scored in both fixtures against the Danish side, and Moyes will hope to have the Italian back from illness for the upcoming matches.
Meanwhile, FCSB have endured a dismal start to the new Romanian top-flight campaign, collecting just seven points from as many fixtures.
Their solitary success was a comeback 3-2 win against opponents who played with 10 men from the seventh minute, and they also appeared to be heading out of this competition when behind to Viking in the playoff round.
However, they bounced back from defeat in the home leg to win 4-3 on aggregate, securing their first appearance in the main stages of a European competition since they reached the last 32 of the Europa League in 2017-18.
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Team News
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Declan Rice is expected to make his first European appearance of the season after being suspended for the two games in the playoff round.
Although Moyes may stick with the back three from the weekend, changes will be made with Angelo Ogbonna, Maxwel Cornet and Said Benrahma all in line for opportunities.
Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola will start between the sticks, with Manuel Lanzini potentially in line to get the nod over Flynn Downes in midfield if Tomas Soucek is rested.
Providing that he has recovered from illness, Scamacca will be considered as an alternative to Michail Antonio.
Nicolae Dica may revert back to the team which secured the win over Viking in Norway, with changes to the side leading to defeat in the following match.
However, Andrea Compagno scored in the most recent fixture and could keep his place in attack ahead of Bogdan Rusu and Ianis Stoica.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Kehrer, Ogbonna, Palmieri; Coufal, Rice, Lanzini, Cornet; Paqueta; Bowen, Scamacca
FCSB possible starting lineup:
Tarnovanu; Pantea, Tamm, Dawa, Radunovic; Popescu, Edjouma; Cordea, Miculescu, Coman; Compagno
We say: West Ham United 3-1 FCSB
Moyes will inevitably rotate his pack for this contest in a bid to keep his players fresh. However, it should not influence the overall result with West Ham possessing far too much firepower for their inconsistent opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
