Only two teams have perfect scores after the first three rounds of the Conference League, West Ham and Villarreal. Tonight, the English team has the opportunity to confirm first place and direct qualification to the round of 16, if they defeat the second-placed Anderlecht on their home field.The Hammers can’t say that the group stage draw did them any good; they were drawn into one of the stronger groups, with the most trophy-laden teams from Belgium and Romania, Anderlecht and FCSB (ex-Steaua), as well as the ever-unpleasant Danish side, Silkeborg.However, even that was not enough for David Moyes’ men to worry about, as they routinely achieved all three wins in the first half of the group stage. They were better than FCSB 3-1, they defeated Silkeborg 3-2, and then they returned from Brussels last week with all three points with a 1-0 triumph.Pablo Fornals’ season by numbers so far in the Premier League [West Ham rank]:275 carries [ 🥈 ]153 final third touches [ 🥈 ]32 progressive passes completed [ 🥈 ]28 final third passes completed [ 🥈]23 shot-creating actions [ 🥈 ]118 pressures [ 🥉]Vital. 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/JOGgLnCpeR— Dan Woffenden (@danwoff98) October 12, 2022 During the qualifiers already they made it clear what their goal was – to win the Conference League! Last season they missed a big opportunity, reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League, but were eliminated there by the competition winners Eintracht Frankfurt. Now the German team is playing in the Champions League, and West Ham has to settle for duels in the “third tier”.”Of course we would prefer to play in the Champions League, but the bottom line is that West Ham has not even played in Europe for a long time. We must not forget that, that is why we must accept the Conference League and enjoy it. It’s not easy to play in the Thursday-Sunday rhythm, but we’re not complaining about that. On the contrary, for West Ham it is a great thing, which we must not take for granted, because the question is whether we will have another such chance soon”, said Moyes.West Ham are not doing as well in the Premier League as they are on the international stage, after nine rounds they stand only 13th in the table. Admittedly, they have improved their form recently, tied two league victories, so including Europe, the Hammers recorded five triumphs in the last six matches (with a loss against Everton).##EDITORS_CHOICE##Against Anderlecht, Moyes will not be able to count on Michail Antonio, an experienced striker who has scored four goals and provided two assists this season.”Mickey caught a bit of a cold or has the flu, which is why he didn’t train for a few days. We’re a little unsure about that with him. We also have a few minor injuries, but we are in a good situation. We have won five of the last six matches, confidence has returned to training. As I watch them work, I think this is going in a good direction. I hope I’m not wrong,” added Moyes.Anderlecht is by far the most successful Belgian club, but it has been in crisis for years. They have not won the title since 2017, and this is the first time they have played in the group stage of a UEFA competition in the last five seasons. They are not ‘shining’ this season either, after 11 rounds they stand ninth in the table, with 14 points less than the leader Antwerp. Over the weekend, they beat Mechelen 3-1, thus ending the streak of two consecutive defeats.UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE – GROUP STAGERound 4Thursday19:45: (3.45) Partizan (3.50) Koln (2.20)19:45: (1.28) Basaksehir (6.25) Rigas (15.0)19:45: (1.17) Fiorentina (9.00) Hearts (22.0)19:45: (6.25) Austria Vienna (4.00) Villareal (1.65)19:45: (4.60) Apollon Lim. (3.60) AZ Alkmaar (1.85)19:45: (3.20) Djurgarden (3.35) Gent (2.45)19:45: (3.60) Cluj (3.40) Slavia Praha (2.24)19:45: (2.68) Slovan B. (3.20) Basel (2.80)22:00: (2.90) FCSB (3.30) Silkeborg (2.65)22:00: (1.51) West Ham (4.50) Anderlecht (7.75)22:00: (2.30) Hapoel B.S. (3.40) Lech Poznan (3.45)22:00: (1.47) Nice (4.50) Slovacko (7.75)22:00: (3.35) Vaduz (3.50) Dnipro-1 (2.30)22:00: (5.40) Shamrock (3.70) Molde (1.79)22:00: (2.95) Ballkani (3.35) Sivasspor (2.47)22:00: (2.19) Zalgiris (3.20) Pyunik (4.00)***odds are subject to change***
