Football predictions for West Ham v Birkirkara in the Europa League on Thursday with our free football betting tips.
West Ham head into their second qualifying round for the Europa League on Thursday night as they face off against Maltese side Birkirkara FC. The match kicks off at 7:45 and here are our match predictions and betting tips.
Europa League Predictions – West Ham v Birkirkara.
For the die-hard West Ham faithful, the 2015-16 season started two weeks ago as The Hammers began their tedious Europa League campaign against Andorran side Lusitanos. Unsurprisingly enough, the Premier League outfit strolled to an accomplished 3-0 win following goals from Diafra Sahko and James Tomkins – two of the more senior members of the inexperienced line-up.
However, Slavan Bilic's men were certainly made to work a little harder on their trip to Andorra the following week. Despite taking the lead through a well-taken Elliot Lee strike after twenty minutes, Diafra Sahko hit the self-destruct button and saw red for an of the ball scuffle, leaving his teammates to play out the final 75 minutes with ten men. Although West Ham finished the match as 1-0 winners, Sahko will now miss the next three games through suspension and subsequently administer Slavan Bilic's first selection headache of the season so far.
Opponents Birkirkara finished a respectable third place in the Maltese Premier League last season and also lifted the Maltese Cup. After drawing their first leg home tie against Armenian side Ulisses FC 0-0, they battled to a 3-1 away win to book their clash with The Hammers.
As you can imagine, Birkirkara are not a team riddled with quality. Nevertheless, they did sign former Italian International Fabrizio Miccoli this summer, and the veteran scored two of the goals in their 3-1 victory over Ulisses last week. If anyone is to cause West Ham problems, it is likely to be the former Juventus man.
Early prices for the match have West Ham as massive favourites at a best price of 1/16. Birkirkara can be backed at 30/1, with the draw on offer at 14/1.
At such short odds, there is very little value on offer in backing the win outright for today’s football predictions. However, there are a handful of possible scenarios surrounding the home win. At 6/1 with Coral, you can back the match to be level at half-time and West Ham to win at full-time. Their last match went until the 40th minute until the first goal and Birkirkara only conceded the once over the two legs in the last round. It's a bit of a gamble, but at 6/1, probably worth a few quid.
My first West Ham v Birkirkara prediction for the Europa League on Thursday is the match to be a draw at half-time and West Ham to be winning at full-time, take the 6/1 with Coral.
Finally, for a little bit of a longshot and Betway are running a decent little offer in an enhanced odds market. You can pick up a great price of 10/1 for four or more West Ham United players to get on the scoresheet in 90 minutes. Of course all eyes will be on the team sheet, but I would expect Bilic to go a little stronger at home and look to leave the second leg a formality.
My second football prediction for West Ham v Birkirkara is for four or more West Ham players to score, you must use Betway to get the 10/1.
West Ham v Birkirkara Betting Tips
Draw HT/West Ham FT – get the best odds 6/1 at Coral.
Four or more West Ham players to score – get the best odds 10/1 at Betway.
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Thomas Furinss
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