Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Betting Preview – UEFA Europa League, 18th August
The Hammers will be out for some revenge in this one after having got themselves knocked out of last season’s Europa League qualifiers by Astra. The Hammers were downed 2-1 in Romania in the second leg after a 2-2 draw at the Boleyn Ground. It’s a busy week for the Hammers after having played Chelsea in their opening Premier League fixture of the season on Monday night. Will they fare better out in Romania this time around or will their sluggish start just like last season come back to bite them?
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Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Betting Tips
It’s not too often you will find situations like this, an immediate rematch between two clubs in a showdown to reach the Europa League group stage. This was on the cards last season when the Irons took a shock defeat in the tie, going down 4-3. The Hammers had opened the tie with a nervy 2-2 home draw and then went and lost 2-1 in the second leg. So the Hammers missed out on the money of the group stage and now they have to avoid having the same fate happening to them. But who knows, maybe their failure to get there was a key part in them putting together a focused Premier League campaign. There was seven goals in total then in the two games last season and you can look over 2.5 goals for this one at a price of 10/11 with online betting site Bet365. The Hammers didn’t play well at all in a 2-1 loss against Chelsea on Monday night and didn’t look match sharp at all.
They were equally sluggish all the way through their qualifying last season in the Europa League mind you. These two clubs met for the first time last season but the Hammers have faced other Romanian sides before and haven’t done that well. The Irons actually hold a poor W1 D2 L3 record against Romanian clubs and on each of their three previous visits to Romania they have come away defeated as well (Timisoara 1980, Steaua Bucharest 1999, Astra 2015). So they don’t have a great record and they have lost on the road in Europe already this season having gone down 2-1 against Domzale in the first leg of the last round of Europa League qualifying. They turned that tie around with a 3-0 home win in the second leg. But just like last season, they look to be a little slow out of the blocks and therefore a 5/6 quote on both teams to score looks tempting. A West Ham 1-0 win is the shortest priced option at 5/1 in the first goalscorer market.
The Hammers have all of Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew, Dimitri Payet and Enner Valencia at 6/4 options in the anytime goalscorer market. Astra did so well as underdogs against West Ham last season and they are a few games into their domestic season again. They were in the qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League but got knocked out by FC Copenhagen so ended up in the Europa League qualifiers. Astra haven’t been in great form by any stretch of the imagination either early into the season. They have gone with just a W1 D2 L3 record across all competitions so far. But you look back at last season and they weren’t in any kind of form to suggest that they were going to knock out West Ham. That makes them a dangerous dark horse again.
Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Betting Odds
West Ham 13/20, Draw 11/4, Astra 17/4
Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Predictions
West Ham don’t look the most stable side at the back at the moment and were on the back foot for so long against Chelsea in their Premier League defeat on Monday. This is a test for them and not easy out on the road at a place where they have already struggled. It’s worth backing both teams to score and just taking a quote on the draw in the match outright.
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