UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second-Leg Preview-SC Freiburg
European nights will return to East London tonight but in order to progress to the quarter-finals West Ham United will have to replicate what they did on 14 December and beat Bundesliga side SC Freiburg.
Although they would have been disappointed about the overall outcome last time out against newly-promoted Burnley, they will go into this game looking to build on the momentum they gained in the second-half of that match, as they battled back to earn a 2-2 draw.
David Moyes’ men have had previous experience at turning a 1-0 deficit around in this competition two years ago. They turned that very outcome on its head to become the first ever English team to knock out La Liga outfit Sevilla.
Usually the home side have a significant advantage in the second-leg and the Hammers will certainly be hoping that that is the case again this time around.
The Irons will take confidence in the fact that the German outfit were knocked out at this stage last season by Italian giants Juventus.
Michail Antonio and Danny Ings certainly made an impact in Sunday’s game against the Clarets and will be looking to make rare starts here, while Nayef Aguerd is expected to retain his place and Kalvin Phillips may get more gametime.
Edson Álvarez and Kurt Zouma may be in line for returns to the starting line-up, while James Ward-Prowse was again taken off against Vincent Kompany’s side at the weekend and he will be set to feature here.
The match kicks off at an unusual time for a home encounter of 5:45pm with live coverage being screened by TNT Sports from 5pm. The referee is Marco Guida.