As unusual as it may be, West Ham will be in Europa Conference League action in back-to-back matches due to the recent postponements of Premier League fixtures. 

Nonetheless, the Hammers will take this opportunity to, once again, make their mark in European competition - while six points early on in the group stage is a very large possibility after this encounter.

West Ham will travel to Denmark to go head-to-head with a Silkeborg side, who are currently sitting 4th in the Superliga, accumulating 16 points from their opening nine games in the domestic league.

Silkeborg registered a narrow 1-0 defeat in their opening match of Group B with strong outfit Anderlecht victors. 

Team News

West Ham have confirmed that there are no further absences expected than those absent for their 3-1 home win over FCSB last week. 

Nayef Aguerd remains on the sidelines as he waits patiently for his West Ham debut. Ben Johnson, Aaron Cresswell & Tomas Soucek are all expected to be absent again as they nurse respective short-term injuries.  

In terms of Silkeborg IF, they are expected to have two absences, with Alexander Lind nursing a broken foot and Gustav Dahl out with a concussion.

Predicted Lineups

Silkeborg IF:

Larsen, Engel, Felix, Salquist, Sonne, Thordarson, Brink, Klynge, Tengstedt, Kusk, Helenius

West Ham United:

Areola, Emerson, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Coufal, Rice, Downes, Cornet, Benrahma, Bowen, Scamacca

Opposition Scout Report

Silkeborg set up in a 4-3-3 system, which they have deployed for some time now under manager Kent Nielsen. They like to attack through a slow buildup of possession, which West Ham may let them do while they're in their own half.

They have a very compact attacking setup as seen in their UECL opener against Anderlecht last week. Their players like to stay very close and compact in their attacking build up, which allows for short and sharp passes to occur.

A main weakness which seems apparent is an inability to find a killer final pass for the most part. It is known that West Ham are a very well organised defensive unit under David Moyes, so it can be anticipated that Silkeborg will struggle to get in behind the West Ham back line.

Defensively, Silkeborg are very good at maintaining shape themselves. They have clear defensive blocks in their 4-3-3 system. However, there are a couple of main defensive weaknesses that David Moyes may want to exploit.

Silkeborg struggles to defend against sides who utilise the wide men, due to a very narrow defensive structure. They have also conceded a considerable amount of goals from set-pieces, with a key weakness being unable to clear the ball efficiently when necessary. 

Match Details

Where is the game being played?

David Moyes' men will travel to Denmark to take on Silkeborg at their home ground, JYSK Park.

What time is kick-off?

The game is set to get underway at 20:00 BST on Thursday, 15th September 2022.

How can I watch?

Live coverage of Silkeborg IF vs West Ham United is on BT Sport 2 & BT Sport 2 HD for paying customers. 

VAVEL Logo
About the author