It's all square as West Ham head to France for the second leg of their Europa League tie with Lyon. Jake Osgathorpe previews the game, selecting his best bet.
Football betting tips: Europa League
1.5pts Under 2.5 Goals at 10/11 (bet365)
West Ham played with 10-men for half of the first leg in London, but managed to hang on for a 1-1 draw to leave this tie delicately poised.
The Hammers were on the back foot after Aaron Cresswell's sending off, conceding a host of good chances to Lyon, ultimately being fortunate to come away all square (xG: WHU 0.58 - 2.42 LYO).
Cresswell will be a miss for this second leg, and the fact that the Hammers played a near full-strength team at the weekend in a disappointing defeat to Brentford (xG: BRE 1.66 - 0.30 WHU) has to be seen as a negative too heading into this second leg.
Lyon v West Ham (agg: 1-1)
Kick-off time: 20:00 BST, Thursday
TV channel: BT Sport 1
Lyon 21/20 | Draw 12/5 | West Ham 13/5
Fortunately for the Hammers, the French side are as out of form as they are.
Les Gones have won just one of their last six, and sit a lowly 10th in Ligue 1 - a massively disappointing season for them. The Europa League is their one shot at qualifying for Europe next season, so their eggs are firmly in this basket.
Peter Bosz's side have plenty of individual quality that can hurt West Ham, but I feel as though both teams will be conservative in this second leg.
There will be plenty of respect between the pair, mainly of the counter-attacking abilities of both teams, so neither team will want to play fully on the front foot at risk of getting exposed.
With so much at stake, UNDER 2.5 GOALS appeals greatly at a shade of odds-on.
Neither team have been prolific in attack of late, and that, along with the increased stakes of the game, should see very few chances at either end in a tight, low-scoring contest.
Lyon v West Ham best bets and score prediction
- 1.5pts Under 2.5 Goals at 10/11 (bet365)
Score prediction: Lyon 1-1 West Ham (Sky Bet odds: 11/2)
Odds correct at 1200 BST (12/04/21)
More from Sporting Life
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- Expert xG analysis and features
- Transfer news and done deals
- Football and other sports tips
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
