Backa Topola vs West Ham Odds, Prediction & Betting Tips
Group A leaders West Ham visit the second oldest club in the Serbian SuperLiga Backa Topola in one of Thursday's Europa League 5:45pm kick-offs.
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Since TSC's 3-1 defeat at the London Stadium, the Serbs have lost two of their three UEL outings, with back-to-back defeats to Freiburg following a 2-2 draw with Olympiakos. The Hammers have whipped up three wins from four in this competition, sandwiching victories over Freiburg and at home to Olympiacos between an away loss in Greece.
David Moyes' men are well fancied for this encounter as the 3/11 favourites to return with all three points. The hosts are as far out as 11/1 to claim the win, showcasing just how one-sided this clash may prove to be. Meanwhile, the draw represents a 6/1 chance, which means the bookmakers are giving it a 14.3% implied probability of happening.
Backa Topola vs West Ham Tips
West Ham To Win & BTTS
West Ham have earned nine points from a possible 12 in this season's Europa League, continuing the excellent form which saw them become just the second team to win the Europa Conference League back in June. That sole defeat - their first for 14 matches in Europe and their only European loss since May 2022's semi-final exit to Frankfurt in this tournament 15 games ago - came in Piraeus in an evenly-contested game. David Moyes' side then exacted revenge over Olympiacos in East London and have put their opponents to the sword in three of their last four outings, including that impressive 3-1 victory over Arsenal in the EFL Cup.
The visitors have largely proven to be the group's whipping boys without offering much belief that the tide will turn between now and the group stages ending, losing three out of four in this competition and shipping 13 goals in the process. Freiburg slapped them in consecutive matches to the tune of an 8-1 aggregate score, however, performances and results at home have been more forgiving than their visits to the other grounds in Group A. They picked up a point against Olympiacos at the TSC Arena, where both staged ties have seen BTTS in this competition.
With The Irons' last outing the only exception to both teams scoring in their Europa League matches this term, and all nine of their games on the road returning goals for both teams, we believe the home side can net on their own patch in a West Ham win, as was the case back in September.
Tomas Soucek To Score A Header
Tomas Soucek is the focus for this second bet, but with a short price of just 27/10 in the anytime goalscorer market, we're opting to back him to score a header at 6/1. 13 of Soucek's 22 shots in the Premier League have been let off using his head, stretching to 24 out of 49 across all competitions for club and country this campaign.
The towering Czech midfielder has netted six goals for The Hammers this season and two of those have come by using his head. That includes the 82nd minute goal he bagged against Backa Topola in East London and with the 28-year-old netting in his last two matches, the prospect of him getting on the scoresheet via this method again vs an opposition who've faced 69% of the shots they've conceded inside the 18-yard box suggests a higher chance of landing than the odds imply.
