West Ham v Backa Topola

West Ham vs Backa Topola Preview

West Ham will be looking to start this Europa League campaign in positive fashion on Thursday night when they play host to Serbian outfit Backa Topola at their London Stadium as The Hammers seek to capture another European trophy.

Last season, West Ham captured the Europa Conference League trophy when they registered a 2-1 win against Fiorentina in the final which has earned them a place in the group stage of this season's Europa League but the hosts will head into this opening game in Group A on the back of a 3-1 loss at home to Manchester City last weekend.

It's no disgrace to lose to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side though, and West Ham had previously racked up three league wins on the trot in the Premier League with victories chalked up against the likes of Chelsea 3-1, Brighton 3-1 and a 2-1 win against newcomers, Luton Town.

Interestingly, nine of West Ham's last 10 matches in all competitions have also resulted in Over 2.5 goals and although previous results overall in earlier Europa League campaigns have been a bit of a mixed bag for The Hammers, the London club have lost just four of their last 12 home ties in this competition.

Serbian visitors, Backa Topola, bring an impressive four-match winning streak into this upcoming Europa League contest at the London Stadium as the visitors have also produced some encouraging results of late.

Domestic wins in the Serbian Super Liga have see Backa Topola record victories against Javor, IMT Novi Belgrade, Radnik Surdulica and Zeleznicar Pancevo, the latter being a particularly high-scoring 6-3 win for Backa Topola.

Backa Topola had actually started their European campaign in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League but their foray into the elite club competition didn't last very long as they fell at the first hurdle to Portuguese side, Sporting Braga, in a comprehensive 7-1 defeat on aggregate.

Therefore, the Serbian visitors will now have to concentrate on this second chance in the Europa League where they have played only ties beforehand, winning 2-0 away at Petrocub but then losing on penalties to Steaua Bucharest.

With very limited experience and exposure at Europa League level, Backa Topola look set to have their work cut out against a West Ham outfit who have made an encouraging start to this new Premier League season as The Hammers currently sit in sixth place in the English top flight table.

West Ham v Backa Topola Verdict

West Ham have shown in previous matches that they are more than capable of scoring goals and their quality in the final third should be too much for their Serbian counterparts in this clash.

Therefore, our main bet will be West Ham win & Over 3.5 goals @ 1.95

Other side bets worth considering:

Over 2.5 goals & Both Teams To Score No @ 2.50

Correct score: West Ham 3-0 @ 6.50