West Ham are aiming to win their first major title since 1980 when they face Fiorentina in Prague in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.
The Hammers have not won a European competition since securing the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965 but have landed themselves a top opportunity in this year’s Europa Conference League final, where they take on Fiorentina.
West Ham have had a break to freshen up after the Premier League season and will be hoping that may be the difference between them and the Serie A side, who concluded their league campaign at the weekend.
Fiorentina are also aiming for their first continental honours in a long time, this would be their first since winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1961, but they have already fallen short in a cup final this season.
Football Bet of the Day – Wednesday 7th June
- West Ham to win @ 13/8
Date: Wednesday 7th June, 2023
Time: 20:00
Location: Fortuna Arena, Prague
West Ham have been dominant in this year’s Europa Conference League. David Moyes’ side topped their group with ease, winning all six games, before cruising past AEK Larnaca 6-0 on aggregate in the last 16.
The Hammers followed that with a pair of comfortable victories over Gent and AZ Alkmaar, although the latter did force the Premier League side to show their defensive abilities in the second leg of the semi-final.
Moyes’ men have suffered a poor league campaign but victory in this competition would be special, particularly for captain Declan Rice who looks likely to depart in the summer.
Fiorentina have already come up short in a cup final this season, losing 2-1 to Inter in the Coppa Italia final last month.
The Italians have also shown their potential weakness in one-off matches by losing individual legs of both their quarter-finals and semi-finals in this year’s Europa Conference League.
Lech Poznan beat the Purples 3-2 in the second leg of the last eight while the semis saw Basel take a shock 2-1 lead back to Switzerland, which the visitors managed to overturn in extra-time.
West Ham are significantly stronger than both of those opponents and any slip ups for Vincenzo Italiano’s men in this match could be fatal.
The Hammers have won 13 of their 14 Conference League matches this season, scoring 33 and conceding just eight in the process.
Undoubtedly some of those games came against a worse calibre opponent than they are facing here but West Ham finished the season on a decent run with four wins from their last six matches in all competitions and should be too strong for their Italian rivals.
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