The European campaign has been a welcome distraction from Premier League woes for much of the season for David Moyes and his players, but it now presents West Ham with a huge opportunity to win their first major trophy since lifting the FA Cup in 1980. It is the first European final in 47 years. It will be the Hammers’ 15th European game of the campaign, a run spanning almost ten months, and a win will earn them not the trophy but a spot in the Europa League next season.
Fiorentina concluded the Serie A season in eighth, meaning they too depend on victory here to secure European football when the new season comes around. The Italian side has seen off the likes of Braga and Lech Poznan to reach the final.
Tonight will definitely be a treat as Fiorentina faces West Ham in the Europa Conference League final. It might be Europe’s third competition but don’t tell the fans of either club that. Both team fans will be desperate to lift that trophy on Wednesday, heralding an outstanding achievement for their club.
Goalkeepers
Age
Nationality
13
A.Aréola
Age:
30
30
1
Ł.Fabiański
Age:
38
38
35
D.Randolph
Age:
-
-
47
K.Hegyi
Age:
-
-
Defenders
Age
Nationality
24
T.Kehrer
Age:
27
27
5
V.Coufal
Age:
31
31
4
K.Zouma
Age:
28
28
3
A.Cresswell
Age:
33
33
21
A.Ogbonna
Age:
35
35
2
B.Johnson
Age:
23
23
15
C.Dawson
Age:
33
33
27
N.Aguerd
Age:
27
27
33
Emerson
Age:
29
29
50
H.Ashby
Age:
21
21
K.Casey
Age:
18
18
75
J.Baptiste
Age:
-
-
R.Clayton
Age:
-
-
M.Forbes
Age:
-
-
Luizão
Age:
-
-
Midfielders
Age
Nationality
28
T.Souček
Age:
28
28
11
LucasPaquetá
Age:
26
26
8
PabloFornals
Age:
27
27
10
M.Lanzini
Age:
30
30
32
C.Coventry
Age:
23
23
12
F.Downes
Age:
24
24
K.Appiah-Forson
Age:
21
21
58
K.Simon-Swyer
Age:
20
20
F.Potts
Age:
20
20
O.Scarles
Age:
17
17
41
D.Rice
Age:
24
24
46
Pierre-EmmanuelEkwah Elimby
Age:
-
-
L.Orford
Age:
-
-
Forwards
Age
Nationality
A.Okoflex
Age:
21
21
7
G.Scamacca
Age:
24
24
14
M.Cornet
Age:
27
27
9
M.Antonio
Age:
33
33
22
S.Benrahma
Age:
28
28
20
J.Bowen
Age:
26
26
72
D.Mubama
Age:
18
18
Coach
Age
Nationality
D.Moyes
Age:
60
60
O.Harder
Age:
-
-
Can David Moyes’ West Ham beat Fiorentina, or will the Italians upset the Hammers?
Without a shred of doubt, both clubs have had difficult tourneys to reach this point and the chance to break long trophyless spells are only some of the narratives at play, with a number of big names potentially moving on from each team, with Declan Rice potentially bidding goodbye to the Hammers this summer.
A Discovery
Sofyan Amrabat, 26, burst into global consciousness in the winter as he was instrumental in Morocco reaching the World Cup semifinals. Morocco beat all expectations with outstanding performances across the team, but Amrabat stole the show. He acted as his team’s shield in midfield, anchoring his side as well as protecting the backline against a series of bigger and better teams. Amongst the best aspects of Amrabat’s game in Qatar was his ability to do dirty work in midfield. That led to him getting stuck in, making last-ditch tackles, disrupting play and restoring stability in his team’s gameplay. That style is the reason I’m backing Amrabat to find his name in the referee’s book here.
In 29 Serie A games – five of which were from the bench – he’s been booked 11 times. He is never afraid of getting booked and this has led him to get some silly bookings. He was calm and assured in Qatar but the pressure on Wednesday, in an intimate stadium, in front of a small group of dedicated fans, will be somewhat special.
He’s going to be operating in a midfield role which will see him having to deal with the players who will be making runs off Michail Antonio, which could force him into making some risky challenges.
European Finals’ Bookings
Referee Carlos del Cerro has given out 112 cards in 27 games in all competitions this season (101 yellow and 11 red).
We recall last week’s Europa League final showed us that these tense, cagey finals can get dirty, with that game seeing 14 yellow cards to players and staff.
All three of the European finals this year have an Italian finalist and we’ve already seen Roma lose, with Inter facing Man City on Saturday, and unfortunately for fans of the Hammers, it may yet be West Ham lifting this trophy on Wednesday.
The Power of the Hammer
The two main reason about David Moyes’ team winning.
Primarily, and this is perhaps crucial, they’ve garnered the required experience. They went deep into European competition last year and fell at the last hurdle to Frankfurt in the Europa League semifinals. The players looked distraught after that loss but this season they’ve come back stronger.
It can’t be undermined how beneficial that experience would have been for this team. History has shown that Premier League teams treat this campaign with little respect, but not West Ham, who have made it clear that they want to win it and have fielded good teams in every game.
Date, kick-off time, and venue
The Europa Conference League final is scheduled for 8 pm BST kick-off tonight, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. The venue is the Eden Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.
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