West Ham v Sevilla predictions: Europa rivals set for another tight contest

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for West Ham v Sevilla in the Europa League last 16 on Thursday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Thursday

Best bet

One or both teams not to score
3pts 5-6 BoyleSports

Team news

West Ham
Vladimir Coufal, Angelo Ogbonna and Jarrod Bowen are out and Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell face fitness tests.

Sevilla
Lucas Ocampos is suspended after his first-leg booking and Papu Gomez and Suso are injured. Marcos Acuna, Erik Lamela, Diego Carlos, Karim Rekik and Gonzalo Montiel are doubts.

Match preview

Manchester United were knocked out of Europe by gritty La Liga opponents on Tuesday night and West Ham are hoping to avoid the same fate when they take on Europa League powerhouses Sevilla in the second leg of their last-16 tie.

Atletico Madrid ended the Red Devils' Champions League run with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford and a similarly tight contest looks likely at the London Stadium.

The Hammers competed well in the away leg against six-time Europa League winners Sevilla but a classy finish from Munir El Haddadi on the hour-mark gave the hosts a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

Despite that slender deficit, and the scrapping of the away-goals rule, West Ham are almost 2-1 to qualify from the tie and their hopes of breaking down a streetwise Sevilla defence are not helped by the absence of Jarrod Bowen.

The winger has been tipped for an England call-up after his superb club form this season but he is out with a heel injury and striker Michail Antonio is a major doubt after coming off in Sunday's 2-1 Premier League home win over Aston Villa.

All three goals in the Villa game came in the last 20 minutes and West Ham's previous six league matches included 1-0 defeats to Liverpool and Manchester United and 1-0 home wins over Watford and Wolves.

Sevilla's underwhelming away record adds to the appeal of a bet on one or both teams failing to score in east London.

Julen Lopetegui's men are second in La Liga despite scoring only 12 goals in 15 away matches and four of their five road wins in the Spanish top flight have been by a 1-0 margin.

They have the best defensive record in the division, conceding just 19 goals in 28 matches, and their European away days this season have also been low-scoring affairs.

Sevilla drew 1-1 at Wolfsburg and 0-0 at Lille before a 1-0 defeat in Salzburg during a disappointing Champions League group-stage campaign. And, having lost 1-0 in the second leg of their Europa League playoff tie against Dinamo Zagreb, they may adopt a low-risk approach as they defend their narrow first-leg advantage over the Hammers.

Key stat

21 of Sevilla's 23 away matches this season have featured under 2.5 goals.

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