After a controversial and bizarre conclusion to the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie, West Ham United and Freiburg go again at the London Stadium on Thursday evening.
The German outfit arrive in the English capital with a 1-0 lead to protect from last week's opening encounter, where David Moyes's troops were questionably denied a late penalty.
Match preview
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Twice Freiburg and West Ham clashed in the group stage of the 2023-24 Europa League, and twice the Hammers ended up on the winning side, but their upcoming visitors earned a potentially significant slice of revenge at the Europa-Park Stadion on March 7.
After 80 scoreless minutes in Germany, Michael Gregoritsch directed Roland Sallai's mishit shot into the back of Lukasz Fabianski's net, but West Ham were up in arms as the ball struck Noah Weisshaupt's outstretched arm inside the penalty area deep into second-half injury time.
Referee Alejandro Hernandez belatedly made his way to the screen - which almost always precedes a penalty being given - but to Moyes's bewilderment and fury, the official stuck with his on-field decision, forcing West Ham to do it the hard way on Thursday night.
The Europa Conference League champions certainly did it the hard way on Sunday afternoon, though, fighting back from two goals down against Burnley to force a 2-2 draw in the Premier League, thereby making it seven points from their last nine in the top flight as a rare Danny Ings strike completed the turnaround.
The hosts' run without a clean sheet in all tournaments may now stand at 11 matches, but they have only shipped six goals in their last 10 European home games - all of which have ended in victory - although the last continental visitor to prevail at the London Stadium were Freiburg's German colleagues Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2021-22 semi-finals.
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Die Adler went on to clinch the Europa League crown that year - a good omen for the more superstitious supporters of Freiburg - who are now just 90 minutes away from reaching the quarter-finals of a major continental competition for the first time in their 120-year history.
The 2022-23 campaign saw Freiburg make their debut in the latter stages of the Europa League, only to fall to a 3-0 aggregate loss to Juventus, but the team led by Christian Streich have achieved two commendable Bundesliga results either side of their first-leg success versus the Hammers.
A 2-2 draw with faltering champions Bayern Munich preceded their 1-0 beating of Moyes's men, and the Breisgau-Brazilians ended their six-game winless run in the top flight with a 2-1 triumph away to VfL Bochum on Sunday, where Gregoritsch and Maximilian Eggestein were on target.
Sitting eighth in the Bundesliga table with a seven-point gap to Eintracht Frankfurt in sixth, Europa League stardom will seemingly be Freiburg's best bet if they are to return to the continent for the revamped 2024-25 tournaments, and they arrive in London having won five of their last nine away games in Europe's secondary competition.
Each of Freiburg's last six games in all tournaments has also seen the Breisgau-Brazilians find the back of the net, but they succumbed to a 2-0 loss on West Ham's turf in December, and an identical result on Thursday would be satisfactory for the Irons if they are to right the wrongs of last week.
Team News
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Due to the groin injury that he picked up in the second half of last week's first leg, Emerson Palmieri was unavailable for West Ham's Premier League draw with Burnley, and it is still unclear whether the left-back will be OK for Thursday's fixture.
Maxwel Cornet (hamstring) is expected to remain out until after the international break, and after witnessing a sluggish first half from his side on Sunday, Moyes will not shy away from making several changes.
Kalvin Phillips will be the first name on the chopping block - he was hooked at half time against Burnley to prolong his nightmare start at the London Stadium - and all of Fabianski, Kurt Zouma, and Edson Alvarez should return to the fold.
As for Freiburg, key defender Matthias Ginter - who has only just exited the infirmary - had to be taken off 15 minutes before the end of his side's win over Bochum, but the Germany international is not thought to be nursing anything sinister.
Jordy Makengo (illness) and Weisshaupt (knock) were both missing from Streich's squad at the weekend, though, and they join Philipp Lienhart (groin), Kenneth Schmidt (abdominal), Max Rosenfelder (tendon) and Daniel Kofi-Kyereh (ACL) in the infirmary, but the former is now back in training.
Despite managing five goals in just 299 minutes of Europa League football this season - an average of one strike every hour - Gregoritsch's heroics in the first leg are unlikely to earn him a starting role over Lucas Holer, who was only a second-half substitute at the weekend with the second leg in mind.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Bowen
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Sildillia, Gulde, Ginter, Gunter; Doan, Eggestein, Hofler, Grifo; Sallai, Holer
We say: West Ham United 3-1 Freiburg (West Ham win 3-2 on aggregate)
West Ham can ill-afford to start Thursday's second leg in the same manner that they did against Burnley, but with European progression on the line and vengeance on the mind, Moyes's rejigged side should explode out of the blocks at the London Stadium.
Freiburg have consistently proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in the final third, but West Ham's offence is often too powerful to quell at full tilt, and we have faith in the Irons to reverse their first-leg deficit and book their ticket to the last-eight draw.
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Ben Knapton
