AEK Larnaca v West Ham tips: Europa Conference League best bets and preview
West Ham's European campaign continues with a trip to Cypriot side AEK Larnaca. Tom Carnduff delivers a best bet.
Football betting tips: Europa Conference League
1pt Ivan Trickovski to score anytime at 9/2 (Betfair, Paddy Power)
It's rare that European competition is often a welcome distraction for a team from their domestic showings, even more so when it's the new(ish) third-tier club competition that has hardly captivated audiences from the big five leagues.
West Ham are facing the very real possibility of relegation from the Premier League, yet they are 7/2 second-favourites to win the Europa Conference League. What a lovely tribute to the 2012/13 Wigan side that would be.
A first leg trip to AEK Larnaca could be a tricky contest at points but they have more than enough quality to progress through this tie, even if the league games around these two meetings are likely to put further pressure on David Moyes.
Despite the clear difference in quality between these sides there can't be enough confidence in this West Ham defence to keep anyone out at the moment.
They come into this on the back of shipping four away at Brighton, and have managed to keep just five clean sheets from their 25 league outings. They also conceded in three of their six group-stage games in this competition.
Two of those were against teams seriously lower than the level of the Premier League, so coming up against a team who have featured in the Europa League this season should be more testing.
At a best price of 9/2, I'm willing to back Larnaca's IVAN TRICKOVSKI TO SCORE ANYTIME here.
The veteran striker comes into the game on the back of a hat-trick against Enosis Neon Paralimni at the weekend, and it's hardly a surprise to see that the majority of Larnaca's goals are scored in front of their own supporters.
For some context to their season, they finished second to APOEL ahead of the Championship play-offs beginning - that will see them fight for both the title and a place in European competition again next season.
No side returned more points in home games during the first stage of the season, with an unbeaten home campaign so far delivering 11 wins from 13 games.
A total of 60.8% of their goals this season have come at home, and Trickovski's season has followed a similar pattern. With 10 goals across all competitions so far, he's seen 80% of those scored in familiar surroundings.
The forward has been a regular source of goals since signing in 2015. Trickovski has returned 129 goals and 27 assists in 239 games across all competitions, and while the majority have obviously come in the league, he'll fancy his chances against this struggling Hammers defence.
He's also been on penalty duties in the past - one of which came in their last game - further enhancing his chances across the contest.
Of course, it's difficult to go against the Premier League side in games like this, even with their struggles this season, but TRICKOVSKI provides some interest at a generous enough price.
AEK Larnaca v West Ham best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Ivan Trickovski to score anytime at 9/2 (Betfair, Paddy Power)
Score prediction: AEK Larnaca 1-2 West Ham (Sky Bet odds: 7/1)
Odds correct at 1020 GMT (07/03/23)
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