UEFA Europa Conference League Round of 16 second-leg Preview- AEK Larnaca
After just over a four-month break, UEFA Europa Conference League action returns to Stratford tonight, as West Ham United host Cypriot outfit AEK Larnaca for the second-leg of their Round of 16 tie.
The Hammers go into the game with a 2-0 advantage from last week’s first-leg and they will seek to extend their unbeaten home run in 2023 and cement their place in the quarter-finals of this competition.
With a seventeen day break ahead of them after this game, the Irons will be looking to end their truncated March fixture programme by seeing if they can build on the lead they take into the match and ensuring the large number of home fans leave the stadium in positive mood, before they all return for what is becoming an increasingly crucial match against Southampton on 2 April.
Michail Antonio missed the weekend’s match against Aston Villa, due to a calf injury picked up in Cyprus last week and he will be missing again here. David Moyes did however state in his pre-match news conference that Gianluca Scamacca would start and take the place of the former Nottingham Forest winger. Pablo Fornals started last Thursday and will be involved from the start again after featuring alongside the Scotsman on Wednesday afternoon.
Flynn Downes picked up a third yellow card in the victory seven days ago, meaning he will serve a one-match suspension, while Manuel Lanzini will be hoping to extend his record of starting every European encounter this season.
Despite saying he would not involve Maxwel Cornet ahead of the first-leg, the Ivorian did appear as a late substitute and having done so again against the Villains, he will be considered for a place in the matchday squad for this game.
The match is an 8pm kick-off and live coverage will be screened by BT Sport from 7:30pm. The referee is Georgi Kabakov.