West Ham v Astra Giurgiu Betting Preview – UEFA Europa League 25th August
When these two clubs came together last season in the qualifiers things were tight, with the Romanians pulling off a surprise and moving through at the expense of the Irons. After the first leg this season out in Romania last week, things stand even at 1-1 so the Hammers are a long way from being home and dry at the moment. They need a solid performance on home soil on Thursday night to book their passage through to the group stage of the Europa League this season, can they deliver or will they be upset for the second season running? West Ham are 3/10 for the win, with the draw at 17/4 and Astra at 17/2.
There is 0-0 bore draw insurance running on the game at online betting site Bet365. Place a pre-match correct score, scorecast or half time/full time bet on the game and if your wager ends up losing because the game ends in a 0-0 draw then you will get your lost stake refunded as a free bet from the book maier! Great offer and it applies to all games listed on their site. Register an account with online betting site Bet365 and earn a 100% matched deposit bonus from them.
West Ham v Astra Giurgiu Betting Tips
West Ham sort of have one foot in the group stage of this season’s UEFA Europa League. They took a 1-1 draw out in Romania in the first leg of this tie, Mark Noble getting the goal on the board from the spot kick. That actually gave the Hammers the lead in the game and they held out until the 83rd minute when their defence let them down. So that means that West Ham have posted a W1 D1 L1 record from their three matches in the UEFA Europa League qualifying so far this season so they certainly haven’t had things their own way at all. Their only home game so far saw them produce the win in that sequence, defeating Domzale 3-0. Astra are a little tougher than that though. Really from the first leg of this tie, the Hammers should have won 2-0 because Michail Antonio had a great chance to put the tie to bed, but missed.
One thing to note though, is that Slaven Bilic didn’t send out his strongest side at all. He made some changes and has said that he will send his strongest side out for the second leg back at home. That makes sense and hopefully Antonio’s miss doesn’t come to haunt them. The Irons have some striker issues with new signing Andre Ayew and now Andy Carroll both sitting on the injury list. That’s a big blow for them and Enner Valencia is running at a quote of 6/5 in the anytime goalscorer market. West Ham also have Aaron Cresswell, Sofiane Feghouli and Manuel Lanzini on the injury list. There is the option of both teams to score at 6/5 and that has happened in each of the last three meetings between the two clubs. There is a quote of 8/11 on the game going above the 2.5 goal line as well.
Well on the balance of the first leg Astra can count themselves a little lucky to still be in the mix here. Question is, can they pull off a repeat of their efforts last season in beating West Ham over the two legs? It looks less likely this time around and they are not in any kind of form really with a poor W1 D3 L4 record this season across all competitions. During that sequence of games they have only managed the one clean sheet as well so the Irons should get some chances to put this tie to bed. Their games against West Ham over the last two seasons is their only experience of having faced an English side in Europe. They did make it all the way to the play off round in last season’s UEFA Europa League qualifying with a decent W3 D2 L1 record. However, they have just a D2 L1 record this season from three games played in Europe. They were in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, lying there against FC Copenhagen to end up in the UEFA Europa League play offs.
West Ham v Astra Giurgiu Betting Odds
West Ham 3/10, Draw 17/4, Astra Giurgiu 17/2
West Ham v Astra Giurgiu Predictions
The Hammers should be comfortable enough in this one on the evidence of the first leg. There was enough there, especially with West Ham fielding a stronger side for the second leg, for the Premier League club to avoid the same fate as last season against Astra. Look for a win for the home side, but it may still be worth having a flutter on both teams to score in the fixture.
Find the latest results, League Table, Top Scorer and more on our football statistics on online-betting.me.uk (just choose your country & your preferred topic)
