Freiburg vs. West Ham Odds, Predictions & Betting Tips

West Ham make their first Europa League away trip of the campaign when they head to Germany for an encounter with mid-table side Freiburg at 5:45pm on Thursday.

Freiburg have 10 points from their opening six Bundesliga matches, winning three times, losing twice and conceding three goals more than the seven they've scored. In Gameweek 1 the Germans just about edged past Olympiakos 3-2 in Greece, putting them in good stead for Thursday's home tie.

In West Ham's case, they've given priority to European competitions over recent years, appearing in the semi-finals of this tournament two seasons ago before then winning the sophomoric outing for the Europa Conference League last season. The Hammers cruised to a 3-1 win over Backa Topola two Thursdays ago and will feel poised to make it two wins from two in Germany.

Freiburg vs West Ham Tips

Freiburg may only have scored seven goals in the Bundesliga this term, but adding that four of those have come against Dortmund and Hoffenheim to the five-goal thriller they were involved in against Olympiakos tells us that we can expect another high-scoring European tie.

The Hammers have kept consecutive clean sheets against Lincoln in the EFL Cup and versus Sheffield United in the Premier League last weekend, but prior to that, BTTS had landed in their first seven fixtures of the season, as well as in eight of their last four European fixtures.

With this bet proving successful in both of this pair's GW1 Europa League matches, and this overs line solely landing in four for Freiburg and six for West Ham already during the 2023/24 campaign, we're happy to peddle the goals narrative for this 5:45pm kick-off.

Tomas Soucek Anytime Goalscorer

At 13/2 Tomas Soucek is simply too big to pass up on scoring at any time in Germany.

The towering Czechian known more for his tireless work rate, controlling presence in midfield and aerial abilities from set-pieces has popped up with a number of goals recently, replicating similar previous goalscoring runs while at West Ham.

Soucek has hit a goal in the Premier League, Europa League and EFL Cup so far, with each of these three strikes coming in his last four matches.

While not necessarily expected to reach the crest of his 10-goal Premier League tally of 2020/21, the 28-year-old's three in eight games presents a much shorter implied probability than the odds suggest.

Whenever Soucek's name pops up on the scoresheet in back-to-back games or several times across a small sample size of matches it feels less like a purple patch than him being the beneficiary of circumstance which is why we're touting him to penetrate Freiburg's ropey defence here.