Kick-off: 2000, 16/03/2023
Stadium: London Stadium
TV: BT Sport
West Ham are holding all the aces in their Europa Conference League tie with AEK Larnaca following a 2-0 first-leg win in Cyprus.
The Hammers will now look to make it 10 straight wins in this competition this term, with just one goal conceded in the last five games.
That makes 77/100 for another clean-sheet victory here hard to resist for our initial West Ham vs AEK Larnaca prediction.
Moyes eyeing another Euro run
West Ham again put their Premier League problems behind them when securing a straightforward victory at AEK Arena.
Said Benrahma’s 36th-minute cross found Michail Antonio in acres of space and he duly headed in from seven yards out.
Antonio added a second on the stroke of half-time when curling a lovely shot around defender Nenad Tomovic to leave keeper Kenan Piric stranded.
“I’m really pleased with the result,” said David Moyes, who led the Hammers to the Europa League semi-finals last season.
“I didn’t enjoy long parts of the performance, but the most important thing is to come away and win.
“We scored two goals and could have scored more, but if you’d told me 2-0 before the game, I’d have taken that.
“There’s something different about Europe, even in a small stadium like tonight, it’s a great thrill to be involved at this level.”
Moyes seems intent on using these matches to boost morale and United have scored exactly three times in five of their European games this season.
Looking at the West Ham vs AEK Larnaca odds, it is 25/4 for a 3-0 success.
History against AEK
Larnaca have reached the knockout rounds of a European competition for the first time and looked out of their depth in the opening encounter.
Antonio went close to completing the hat-trick when hitting the inside of the post after being put through by Benrahma just after half-time.
Lucas Paqueta should have made it three in the closing stages when one-on-one with the keeper but Piric saved well with his legs.
Past history does not suggest AEK can turn things around in London, as Cypriot clubs have failed to win on nine previous trips to England, losing on seven occasions.
West Ham do not have a weekend game to worry about, as scheduled Premier League opponents Manchester City are in FA Cup action.
That should allow Moyes to field a strong enough team and this could be a chance to lift the spirits of Gianluca Scamacca.
The £30million summer signing got off to a good start with United but has ben used sparingly of late.
“We know that his physical data has got to be much better than it is,” revealed Moyes. “Gianluca has got to get himself back.
“I think his application is there, we just want the output to be bigger and more, that’s one of things we are looking for more of.”
Scamacca was an unused substitute in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa but is backed to break the deadlock here at 14/5 in our West Ham vs AEK Larnaca betting tips.
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