West Ham will start off their Europa League campaign on Thursday when they travel to Croatia to take on Dinamo Zagreb at Ruddy Buquet with kickoff at 19:45.
West Ham earned an automatic qualification to the Europa League following their sixth-place finish in the Premier League last season and this will be their first competitive football in Europe for the first time since 2016-17 campaign where they lost 2-1 to Astra Giurgiu in the playoff round.
David Moyes’s side did not have to go through playoffs this time around as the London club defied odds to collect 65 points last season, pipping Tottenham to the sixth spot which saw them progress automatically.
In the build up to the Thursday’s clash the Hammers have made a strong start to the new Premier League campaign winning two and drawing two of their four opening matches which leaves them in the eighth spot with eight points but only two points adrift of the top-placed Manchester City. The David Moyes transformed West Ham head into the clash in an excellent form as they have not lost in any of their last 14 games as well as their last 11 away matches across all competitions.
Meanwhile the hosts Dinamo Zagreb found themselves in the Europa League after they fell short in the qualifying rounds for the Champions League. The Croatian side managed to retain their crown in the HNL last season earning their place in the Champions League qualifiers and they began well edging Valur Reykjavik in the first round before also easing past Omonia in the second round and Legia Warsaw in the third round.
However, things fall apart when they faced off with Sherriff Tiraspol who edged them 3-0 on aggregate that saw Damir Krznar’s side drop the second elite European competition.
Now they will shift their focus to the Europa League where they will be aiming to replicate last season’s campaign where they shocked many by seeing off Tottenham to the quarter finals where they were knocked out by eventual champions Villarreal.
Dinamo Zagreb vs West Ham head to head
This will be the first time these two go head to head and we expect a tussle here.
Home
- Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 Sibenik
- Jarun Zagreb 3-1 Dinamo Zagreb
- Osijek 0-2 Dinamo Zagreb
- Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Tiraspol
- Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 Lokomotiva
Away
- Southampton 0-0 West Ham
- West Ham 2-2 Crystal Palace
- West Ham 4-1 Leicester
- Newcastle 2-4 West Ham
- West ham 2-0 Atalanta
Dinamo Zagreb team news
Dinamo Zagreb will be without the services of Dominik Livakovic, Mario Gavranovic and dino Peric due to injuries.
West Ham team news
West Ham have no reports of missing players.
Prediction and odds
- Draw
- Away win
- Goals under 2.5
