West Ham host Olympiacos at the London Stadium this Thursday in match day four of the Europa League. Both sides have at least a win under their belt, but a win this week would either give The Hammers control of the group or Olympiakos a fighting chance of qualification.
West Ham currently sit top of Group A after three games. The Hammers have two wins and one loss, leaving them on six points, on equal points with second-place Freiburg.
In their last five games in all competitions, West Ham have one win and four losses. Jarrod Bowen managed to find the back of the net for The Hammers, but a brace from Douglas Luiz and goals from Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey all scored to give Aston Villa the 4 - 1 win despite West Ham’s 14 shots. In the Europa League, West Ham suffered a 2 - 1 loss to Olympiacos and then their misery was compounded by a loss against Everton. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the only goal of the game to give Everton the 1 - 0 win.
In the Round of 16 of the League Cup, West Ham faced Arsenal. A Ben White own goal opened the scoring for West Ham, giving them the 1 - 0 lead going into halftime. Mohammed Kudus and Bowen then added to the lead, meaning Martin Odegaard’s 96th minute goal was only a consolation as West Ham won 3 - 1. The last time out for West Ham was another London derby, this time against Brentford. Kudus and Bowen cancelled out Neal Maupay’s early goal, giving The Hammers the 2 - 1 lead at halftime. But an own goal from Konstantinos Mavropanos and a goal from Nathan Collins gave Brentford the 3 - 2 win.
Olympiacos, on the other hand, sit third in Group A. In three games, Olympiacos have one win, one draw and one loss which leaves them on four points, two points adrift of the qualification spots.
In their last five games in all competitions, Olympiacos have three wins, one draw and one loss. Daniel Podence grabbed a brace in the first half and was joined on the scoresheet by Rodinei in the 91st minute for the 3 - 0 win over Giannina. In the Group stage of the Europa League, Olympiacos faced Backa Topola. Giorgos Masouras and Podence both scored to give Olympiacos the 2 - 0 lead, but goals from Ifet Djakovac and Milos Pantovic and a red card to Andres Ndoj meant that the game finished 2 - 2.
The Greek side beat West Ham 2 - 1 on home soil and followed it up with a 2 - 0 win in the Super League Greece. Podence grabbed another brace for Olympiacos as they beat OFI 2 - 0.
The last time out for Olympiacos was against PAOK. Olympiacos left themselves everything to do with a brace from Brandon and goals from Andrija Zivkovic and Magomed Ozdoyev gave PAOK the 4 - 0 lead going into the closing stages. Kostas Fortounis and Masouras both scored late on but it wasn’t enough as PAOK won 4 - 2.
The only time West Ham and Olympiacos have met was last time out in the Europa League. Fortounis and Rodinei both scored late into the first half to give Olympiacos a 2 - 0 lead going into halftime. Lucas Paqueta did score in the 87th minute to get West Ham on the scoresheet, but it wasn’t enough as Olympiacos held on for the 2 - 1 win.