Europa League Predictions > Apr 28th

[StevieDay1983]

[StevieDay1983]

The 2021/22 Europa League Semi-Final first leg games are coming up next week. It's RB Leipzig versus Rangers and West Ham against Eintracht Frankfurt. Hit us with your predictions and thoughts on these two games! 

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Draw @3.40

Analysis:

The two dark horses of UEFA Europa League will fight for the Semifinal on Thursday.

West Ham United
As they rank sixth at the table of EPL, with little chance to qualify for European games, they put more efforts on Europa League and come into Semifinal. Undoubtedly they will try their best to win the title this season. They got a 0-3 clean sheet from Lyon in the Quarterfinal of Europa League.

Eintracht Frankfurt
The total value of Frankfurt is €0.2 billion. But they offer surprises in the Europa League this season. They defeated FC Barcelona in 2nd leg of Europa League Quarterfinal, which shows their potential and tenacity.

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West Ham vs Eintracht Frankfurt 

West Ham United will want a better result here following the 1:0 Premier League defeat last time out to Chelsea. The Hammers are far from the top-four zone in the Premier League, and they should focus on snatching another Europa League spot. It has been seldom in recent times where West Ham United has managed to hold out for a full 90 minutes. In fact, West Ham United has been scored against in 5 of their previous 6 matches, giving up six goals. Regarding the selection issues, the home side will have several. Kurt Zouma (Sprained Ankle), Issa Diop (Ankle Injury), and Angelo Ogbonna (Cruciate Ligament Rupture) will be missing for West Ham United boss David Moyes. Aaron Cresswell will not be able to play in this game through being suspended.

Last time out, Eintracht Frankfurt drew 2:2 in the Bundesliga match with Hoffenheim. They will unlikely finish in the top-six zone, but winning the Europa League is the shortcut to the Champions League. The stats tell the story, and Eintracht Frankfurt has been scored against in 5 of their last six matches, seeing their opponents hit nine goals overall. In defense, Eintracht Frankfurt has some weaknesses to address. Nevertheless, they go to London to make another upset since they eliminated Barcelona in the latest round.

Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction                                                                            

Both sides have been pretty inconsistent lately, and this game can easily go either way. Therefore, we don’t think either team will secure the advantage in the first leg in London.

Goals Market Prediction

On the other hand, both sides have been involved in efficient matches this season. They won’t give up on the attacking style, and we expect to see goals in both nets.  

Draw @ 3.55

BTTS Yes @ 1.80

Correct score 1:1 @ 6.50

[StevieDay1983]

RB Leipzig vs Rangers

The 2021/22 Europa League Semi-Final first leg matches are coming up on Thursday night and the first of those I am previewing is the 8pm BST kick-off between German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig and Scottish Premiership club Rangers at the Red Bull Arena. The home side are the heavy favourites heading into this encounter but is there any evidence to suggest the away team could spring a shock?

RB Leipzig have endured a season that started slowly including elimination from the Champions League at the group stage and falling off the pace of the Champions League qualification spots in the Bundesliga but is now coming together with the team reaching the Europa League Semi-Finals, currently sat in 4th place in the league, and have a final appearance coming up against Freiburg in the DFB-Pokal. Former head coach Jesse Marsch is now enjoying life at Premier League club Leeds but his replacement Domenico Tedesco has impressed in his time here since he was appointed back in December. This will be a second European cup semi-final in 5 years for Leipzig having reached the Champions League Semi-Finals back in 2019/20. It's just 1 loss in the last 12 home games for Leipzig having won 7 of those games. Over 2.5 goals have been scored in 6 of the last 8 home matches for Leipzig.

Rangers have stunned the European football community by reaching this stage of the competition. Head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst has struggled to keep up with Celtic on the domestic front but he appears to have nailed the approach to cup competitions with Rangers reaching this Semi-Final and set to compete in the Scottish FA Cup Final against Hearts next month. Rangers have won just 2 of their previous 24 away European games to German opposition. This is their first Semi-Final in European competition since their 2007/08 run to the UEFA Cup Final. The Gers have suffered defeat in their last two away games in this competition and have won just 1 of their last 7 away games in Europe as well. Over 2.5 goals have been scored in 8 of the last 10 games that Rangers have been involved in.

This will be the first time that these two clubs have met in official European competition. They have experienced two very different routes to this stage of the competition but it's easy to see how RB Leipzig come into this game as favourites. Rangers have been left wanting on their travels in Europe but if they can stay within touching distance of their opponents in this first leg then they give themselves a chance at home in the second leg. I fear the damage may get done here though.

RB Leipzig to Win & Total Goals Scored Over 2.5 @ 2.05 with Bet365

RB Leipzig HT/FT @ 2.10 with SBK

[StevieDay1983]

West Ham vs Eintracht Frankfurt

The second 2021/22 Europa League Semi-Final first leg scheduled to take place on Thursday night at 8pm BST is the clash between Premier League club West Ham and Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt at the London Stadium. Both of these teams have won European trophies before but it's been a while. Is it time for one of them to take a big step towards returning to the glory days?

West Ham are a team in the ascendancy right now with the club currently sitting in 7th position in the Premier League and reaching their first European competition Semi-Final since the 1975/76 European Cup Winners' Cup run and, no, we're not counting their Intertoto Cup success of 1999 in that! The Hammers have struggled for decent form in the league but their European run remains unaffected with the club navigating their way past a group stage including Dinamo Zagreb, Rapid Vienna, and Genk before eliminating Sevilla and Lyon in the knockout stages. David Moyes is doing a tremendous job at the club and the fact they have only failed to score at home twice this season in all competitions shows what an attacking threat he has turned the team into but both teams scoring in 5 of their last 7 matches at home show the defence is a potential weakness. West Ham are also unbeaten in their last 8 games at home in all competitions.

Eintracht Frankfurt might be milling around the mid-table area in 9th place in the Bundesliga but head coach Oliver Glasner is putting his own stamp on the team by guiding them to the last four in the Europa League. The club are without a win in their last 5 league games with their progress in Europe seemingly distracting them in their domestic duties. The club actually won this competition back in the 1979/80 season when it was simply named the UEFA Cup. This season the club have qualified from a group consisting of Olympiakos, Fenerbahce, and Royal Antwerp before eliminating Real Betis and Barcelona in the knockout rounds. The team has shown they can be an attacking threat on their travels having scored in 12 of their last 15 away games.

Interestingly, these two clubs met in the 1975/76 Cup Winners' Cup Semi-Finals when West Ham prevailed as 4-3 winners on aggregate against Eintracht Frankfurt. The home leg for West Ham produced a 3-1 win in that tie and I'm not sure I can see such a convincing win this time around but I can certainly see West Ham winning but with both teams scoring. This could be an electrifying encounter if both teams play to their attacking strengths.

West Ham to Win @ 1.95 with SBK

BTTS @ 1.82 with SBK