Europa League Preview: Leicester and West Ham to get the job done

There are two English sides in action in the Europa League this week as Leicester travel to Moscow and West Ham open their doors to Genk. We preview both games below.

Spartak Moscow v Leicester City

Spartak Moscow welcome Leicester City in Matchday 3 of the Europa League and Leicester look to secure their first win in the competition this season.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have only managed a 2-2 draw at home to Napoli and a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Legia Warsaw in their two fixtures of Group C so far, however, they will head into this clash with momentum after a win over Manchester United in the Premier League.

Normally, when travelling away from home in the Europa League, there is a level of concern that the fixture will be that much tougher going to your opponent’s backyard, although, it should be noted that this might not be the case when it comes to Spartak Moscow. Rui Vitória’s side have only managed to secure two wins from their last 11 Europa League fixtures since 2011, and the Russian outfit will be aware of this, but they can take comfort in Leicester’s very own poor away form this season.

The Foxes were winless in three before securing a victory over Manchester United at the King Power in their last outing and that form will have to count for something here, particularly as it was their third domestic game in a row that they had scored twice in, and Rodgers’ side will have to muster all that attacking energy if they are to chalk up just a third away win in all competitions this season here.

The two sides, that have never before met in any competition, can be separated by Leicester City’s favouritism at 5/6 and Spartak Moscow’s underdog status at 7/2 . At these prices, it looks a done deal for Leicester but if there’s one thing that can be close to guaranteed and will bolster their current price is the promise of goals, and Leicester to win with three or more goals in the match looks interesting at 9/5.

West Ham v Genk

Another British team in the competition are West Ham, though their form figures read very differently to Leicester’s. The Hammers are unbeaten in their two starts so far this term and have won both fixtures comfortably 2-0.

After a defeat against Brentford before the recent international break, David Moyes’s side bounced back perfectly at the weekend to beat Everton in the Premier League. Just the single goal from Angelo Ogbonna proved enough to get his team three points as they held out for a clean sheet.

The Hammers have only lost twice this season across all competitions and have built up plenty of confidence in both the Premier League and Europa League. Unlike opponents Genk, who are heading into this fixture on the back of three defeats. However, Genk did start their European campaign with a victory against Rapid Wien, but those three points didn’t come easy and were only secured with a 92nd minute winner. There is no more succinct way to sum up this Group H game than to say that a win for Van den Brom’s side could leave them top of the group while a defeat could leave them bottom.

But, the former option doesn’t look likely as West Ham enter this fixture as the heavy 4/11 favourites, while the Belgian side are 15/2 to leave London with a win under the belts and an end to their losing streak.

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