Freiburg vs West Ham LIVE!
The Europa League returns tonight for the knockout stage proper as the Hammers head to Germany for a tricky first-leg clash in the last 16. These two teams already know plenty about each other having faced off twice in the group stage, with David Moyes’s side winning on both occasions for Freiburg’s only defeats thus far.
It’s a good omen for West Ham tonight, and an even better one is that Freiburg have won just one of their last eight games in all competitions, and none of them inside 90 minutes, while the Hammers have two victories on the trot, scoring seven goals in the process. Moyes said ahead of the game that his side have fit form at the right time.
Only Maxwel Cornet is missing for the visitors this evening as Moyes boasts an almost fully fit squad. However, Edson Alvarez and Emerson are one booking away from a one-game suspension. Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog, featuring expert insight and analysis from Malik Ouzia.
Freiburg vs West Ham latest updatesFull-time!
21:57 , Alex Young
100min: Remarkable late drama but Freiburg hold on!
21:56 , Alex Young
99min: No penalty! After all of that! Remarkable.
21:54 , Alex Young
97min: The referee is going to the monitor!
21:53 , Alex Young
96min: Still checking. Soucek knocks the ball up and on to the young defender’s hand.
21:53 , Alex Young
95min: Deep into added time and there’s a VAR check for a Hammers penalty!
21:48 , Alex Young
92min: Four minutes added on.
21:48 , Alex Young
91min: It’s a bit late for this change but Antonio is on for Paqueta.
21:46 , Alex Young
88min: Moyes has settled for a defeat.
21:40 , Alex Young
83min: Moyes reacts by replacing Ward-Prowse with Phillips.
GOAL!
21:38 , Alex Young
81min: Gregoritsch is off the bench and on the scoresheet! He’s in the right place to tuck home Sallai’s shotfrom the edge of the area.
21:35 , Alex Young
77min: Chances coming far more regularly as Ward-Prowse turns inside the area and has a pop, but it’s weak.
Antonio for the final 10 or so minutes?
21:31 , Alex Young
73min: Gregoritsch, only just on, heads straight at Fabianski.
21:25 , Alex Young
69min: Emerson replaced by Cresswell after requiring a bit of treatment.
21:23 , Alex Young
65min: Incredible save! Bowen cuts into the area and onto his preferred left boot to curl one towards the far corner, but Atubolu’s fingertips deny him.
The keeper rightly with a big celebration.
Malik Ouzia reports
21:21 , Alex Young
At half-time it felt like shaking hands and heading to London at 0-0 might be both teams’ plan but things have opened up a little since the break.
You’d still fancy West Ham are more likely.
21:20 , Alex Young
62min: Another big chance for Paqueta! Kudus the provider this time to the back post but the midfielder gets underneath the ball and heads over.
Had to get it on target, at the very least.
21:16 , Alex Young
58min: It’s getting a bit feisty as Alvarez goes in hard on Doan from behind to get booked.
Malik Ouzia reports
21:12 , Alex Young
I’ve ended up watching a bit more of Freiburg than I bargained for this season and I just really haven’t been impressed.
Plenty of tidy stuff but they’ve really lacked any sort of edge in two-and-a-half games against the Hammers – which is bizarre, because they’ve scored for fun in this competition otherwise.
(PA Wire via DPA)
21:09 , Alex Young
53min: Huge chance! Bowen looks for Paqueta at the far post but Doan gets back to stick in a boot as the midfielder was winding up to tuck home.
21:07 , Alex Young
50min: Freiburg are screaming for a penalty as Sallai goes down under pressre from Coufal, but the referee is having none of it. Sallai gets booked for complaining.
Second half!
21:02 , Alex Young
46min: Back under way!
21:01 , Alex Young
Moyes will be content with the state of the tie but his side have not yet clicked in the final third.
Malik Ouzia reports
20:48 , Alex Young
Not a second of added time at the end of the half and that tells its own story. The two teams keeping each other at arm’s length, but with the second leg to come in London, it’s West Ham who’ll be happier with that state of affairs.
(AFP via Getty Images)
Half-time
20:46 , Alex Young
46min: Not a second of added time!
20:46 , Alex Young
44min: Freiburg have improved as the half has worn on, but still very panicked and rushed.
20:43 , Alex Young
39min: Sildillia gets booked for wiping out Alvarez to stop an attack.
20:40 , Alex Young
37min: Freiburg are starting to turn the screw as half-time approached. Zouma called into action with a last-ditch clearance.
Malik Ouzia reports
20:34 , Alex Young
Big chances at both ends. I was all ready go off on one there about the ruthlessness of that West Ham forward line but Bowen’s finish was scuffed.
Looked like he wasn’t quite sure whether the defender would get a touch on it and he didn’t go at the chance with proper conviction.
20:34 , Alex Young
32min: Straight up the other end Kudus finds Bowen at the back post, but he can’t get an attempt on target. Best chance for the visitors so far.
CHANCE!
20:32 , Alex Young
31min: That’s more like it as Freiburg finally carve open a gap in the Hammers defence as Sallai feeds Holer into the area, but his shot is straight at Fabianski.
20:27 , Alex Young
25min: The crowd inside the stadium are enjoying themselves, that’s the most I can say about this game at the moment.
20:21 , Alex Young
20min: West Ham seeing far more of the ball now but it’s all a bit scrappy. Alvarez trying to calm things down in the middle.
20:18 , Alex Young
16min: Bowen tries to make something happen, picking up the ball near the halfway line, turns and charges at the Freiburg defence. He has the better of Sildillia on the right as he ducks into the area but opts to shoot rather than find Kudus in the middle.
Easy save for Atubolu.
Malik Ouzia reports
20:15 , Alex Young
Strangely sloppy starts from both Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta.
West Ham know what they do well and will be happy surrendering the bulk of the possession but they need their quality players to make use of the ball they do have.
20:14 , Alex Young
12min: Hammers appear happy to let Freiburg have the ball in these opening stages. Not doing too much with it either, the Germans.
Malik Ouzia check sin
20:10 , Alex Young
Konstantinos Mavropanos is still yet to really convince in a West Ham shirt but Nayef Aguerd’s drop in form has given him a chance in recent weeks and with the Moroccan now injured he’s got chance to cement a place.
20:08 , Alex Young
7min: An even opening. Freiburg seeing a tad more of the ball.
(Getty Images)
20:05 , Alex Young
4min: A first corner for the visitors, but it also comes to nothing. Tame start here.
20:03 , Alex Young
2min: Early chance for Freiburg sees Zouma get in an important block on Sallai. The hosts win a corner… which comes to nothing.
Kick-off!
20:00 , Alex Young
1min: Here we go!
19:58 , Alex Young
..and here they come. Some atmosphere inside the stadium.
19:56 , Alex Young
The teams are in the tunnel.
19:51 , Alex Young
Kick-off is fast approaching.
(AFP via Getty Images)
19:45 , Alex Young
Liverpool have beaten Slavia Prague 5-1 in the end, as Brighton lost 4-0 to Roma.
Aston Villa and Ajax draw 0-0 in Amsterdam.
Hello again
19:39 , Alex Young
This is the third time these two teams have met this season. West Ham won 2-1 in Germany during the group stage before a 2-0 win back at the London Stadium.
What about tonight?
(AFP via Getty Images)
19:28 , Alex Young
Those West Ham fans who do get to the stadium tonight must be applauded.
Airline Lufthansa are on strike so flights to Germany were cancelled, plus the trains were also off due to a strike. Plenty expected to have jumped on Google Maps and worked out an alternative route.
19:20 , Alex Young
It’s been a mixed night for English teams in Europe tonight.
Liverpool are beating Sparta Prague 4-1.
Aston Villa are drawing 0-0 with Ajax.
Brighton are losing 4-0 to Roma.
About 15 minutes or so to play in those games.
19:13 , Alex Young
So, as expected, Aguerd is not passed fit so Mavropanos and Zouma continue at centre-back.
It’s a strong XI from Moyes, with Alvarez, Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta and Bowen all starting.
He wants this done tonight, it seems.
Teams in full
19:02 , Alex Young
Freiburg XI: Atubolu; Sildillia, Ginter, Gulde, Gunter; Doan, Eggestein, Hofler, Grifo; Sallai, Holer
Subs: Muller, Uphoff, Szalai, Weisshaupt, Keitel, Kubler, Adamu, Muslija, Philipp, Makengo, Rohl, Gregortisch
West Ham XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Bowen
Subs: Areola, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Ings, Johnson, Phillips, Antonio, Mubama, Earthy, Anang, Orford, Casey
(REUTERS)
Freiburg XI
18:56 , Alex Young
…and the hosts!
West Ham XI
18:52 , Alex Young
Here’s how the Hammers look.
18:44 , Alex Young
David Moyes is taking in the pitch for the second time this season.
(REUTERS)
18:35 , Alex Young
Kick-off is a little over 90 minutes away. Team news is imminent.
(Getty Images)
Freiburg struggling for form
18:28 , Alex Young
When Freiburg made the return journey to east London on the final day with top spot on the line, they disappointed again, beaten 2-0 without throwing a punch.
Consensus among the German media on both occasions, though, was that West Ham had not seen the best of Christian Streich’s side, and there is substance to support the claim.
The Bundesliga outfit won their four other group matches by an aggregate score of 16-3, including victory in Greece, and last month knocked out Lens, who had inflicted Arsenal’s sole defeat in the Champions League group stage before dropping into the play-off.
A 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich last weekend aside, Freiburg’s domestic form offers little to shout about, with no wins in six matches.
There again, until beating Brentford and Everton in the last fortnight, neither did West Ham’s. Moyes, though, believes his team have hit their stride again at the right time after a winless start to 2024.
“We had a period where we weren’t so good, but we’re back on form and I sense we’re getting back to where we should be,” the Scot said. “I want us to have another great run in Europe and I’d also like us to qualify for Europe again through the league.”
(AFP via Getty Images)
West Ham seeking comfort in the familiar as Moyes eyes Euro hat-trick
18:19 , Alex Young
How long does novelty last? For a new song, perhaps six or seven plays. For a child blagging a day off school sick, somewhere around lunchtime tends to be the mark. And if you have just bought one of those fancy, garden pizza ovens, probably until the first time you try to clean it.
For West Ham and their European adventure, however, it seems the bar is set at a lofty two-and-a-half years. For Thursday night, David Moyes’s side go back to Black, returning to the fringes of the German forest to once again meet SC Freiburg, the first repeat opposition of their three successive continental tours.
For the 2,230 supporters who have braved the travel chaos soiling the German reputation for smooth running, there remains a sense of the new, October’s group-stage meeting having been played without away fans, who were serving a one-match ban. With industrial action planned on planes and trains across the country on Thursday and Friday, the real fun and games may yet lie in getting home.
For Moyes’s team, however, who won here in the group stage and again in the London Stadium reverse, this has the feel of a pure business trip.
Read more here!
(Getty Images)
Score prediction
18:03 , Alex Young
Freiburg have hit something of a slump in terms of home form, failing to win any of their last three Bundesliga games. Having already been beaten twice by a West Ham team who have hit form recently, an away win looks the most likely outcome.
West Ham to win, 2-1.
West Ham team news
17:55 , Alex Young
West Ham have few injury worries, despite an issue for Nayef Aguerd. David Moyes has close to a fully fit squad available, with Maxwel Cornet the only player not to travel because of a hamstring problem.
Aguerd had been a regular for the Hammers in the first half of the season and started four of their six Europa League group games.
However, the Moroccan was dropped from the Premier League side last month after a run of poor form and the Hammers have since put a winless start to 2024 behind them with back-to-back victories over Brentford and Everton.
Even so, Moyes may have been keen to use the Moroccan in Germany, particularly with concerns over Kurt Zouma’s workload.
Elsewhere, Lukasz Fabianski will likely reprise his role as the cup goalkeeper of choice, while Kalvin Phillips could start should Moyes shuffle his pack in midfield.
(Getty Images)
Freiburg team news
17:43 , Alex Young
Freiburg warmed up for this game with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich, which would have boosted morale.
Lukas Kublar is fit again while Philipp Lienhart is walking a yellow-card tightrope but should be feature tonight either way. Mattias Ginter should come in in his place.
Where to watch Freiburg vs West Ham
17:35 , Alex Young
TV channel: The game will be broadcast on TNT Sports 2. Coverage starts at 7.45pm GMT ahead of an 8pm kick-off.
Live stream: Subscribers will be able to watch on a live stream via the Discovery+ website and app.
Welcome
17:29 , Alex Young
Good evening and welcome to the Standard’s LIVE coverage of the Europa League clash between Freiburg and West Ham in the last-16 stage.
It is the third time these two teams have met this season, with the Hammers winning home and away in the group stage. Will that run continue tonight?
Kick-off in Germany is at 8pm. Stick with us.
(Getty Images)
