West Ham vs TSC Backa Topola betting tips, BuildABet, best bets and preview
Football betting tips: Europa League
1pt Jarrod Bowen to score first at 11/2 (Betfair, Paddy Power)
West Ham are a different beast when it comes to European competition.
David Moyes' side reached the Europa League semi-finals in the 21/22 season and secured silverware in the campaign that followed - lifting the Europa Conference League trophy, a first success in Europe for the club.
They enter the continent's second tier competition undoubtedly as one of the favourites and will look to begin their campaign strong, coming up against debutants TSC Backa Topola.
The Hammers are playing Serbian opposition for the first time in their history, with Topola dropping down to the Europa League group stages after losing their Champions League qualifiers.
TSC sit top of the Serbian Super Liga with an unbeaten start. That should give them a little bit of confidence, although they take on a West Ham side who have had a good opening to their own domestic campaign, sitting sixth in the Premier League with ten points from five outings.
What are the best bets?
Jarrod Bowen is West Ham's top scorer so far this season (three goals), sitting behind James Ward-Prowse for goal contributions (five) with four to his name.
The forward is second in the Hammers squad for shots per90 (2.60) and has the highest shots on target per90 in the league (1.20).
Last season, he had the most goal contributions in the Conference League (seven), ahead of Michail Antonio (six) and Said Benrahma (four).
Therefore, BOWEN is the value pick in this fixture. He is 11/2 to SCORE FIRST.
BuildABet @ 20/1
- Jarrod Bowen to score a brace
- Mohammed Kudus to score or assist
- Danny Ings 3+ shots on target
Bowen is West Ham's chief in attack.
Expect him to get into dangerous positions and take his chances well, given the level of opposition and his excellent form, backing him to score a brace makes for good value.
Mohammed Kudus has had brief cameos in the Premier League but is in line for a start. The Ghanian is a huge offensive threat and backing him to score or assist provides appeal.
Danny Ings is likely to start ahead of Michail Antonio in attack as Moyes opts for some rotation. With service from the likes of Kudus and Bowen, backing Ings to have 3+ shots on target nicely rounds off the multiple.
Score prediction: West Ham 4-0 TSC (Sky Bet odds: 7/1)
Team news
Moyes is set to have a fully fit squad to choose from, with the exception of Edson Alvarez who misses out due to suspension.
Kudus is expected to get his first Hammers start since joining from Ajax in the summer.
Predicted line-ups
West Ham: Areola; Kehrer, Ogbonna, Mavropanos, Cresswell; Ward-Prowse, Soucek; Bowen, Kudus, Benrahma; Ings
TSC: Ilic; Vlaukin, Antonic, Stojic, Cvetinovic, Petrovic; Jovanovic, Stanic, Radin, Djakovac; Rakonjac
Match facts
- West Ham United won 14 games in the Conference League last season (including qualifiers), the most ever wins by an English team in a European competition in one season. Only Atlético de Madrid in 2011-12 have ever won more in a season (17).
- This is the first ever meeting between West Ham United and Backa Topola, and the Hammers’ first ever game against Serbian opponents.
- Topola are the first debutant Serbian team since Borac Cacak in 2008-09, who lost 4-1 to Ajax in the UEFA Cup in their first match.
Odds correct at 1500 BST (20/09/23)
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