West Ham v Rapid Vienna: David Moyes’ side continue European fairytale

West Ham will play a Europa League group game for the first time at the London Stadium.
David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United celebrates following the Premier League match Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United celebrates following the Premier League match Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United celebrates following the Premier League match Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

West Ham will hope to continue their Europa League fairytale when they host Austrian side Rapid Vienna at the London stadium tonight.

David Moyes’ side made a strong start to the competition with a 2-0 win in Croatia against Dinamo Zagreb.

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Goals from in-from striker Michail Antonio and a late finish from England midfielder Declan Rice gave the Irons a storming start to life in Group H.

Austrian side Rapid Vienna gave a good account of themselves despite losing 1-0 to Genk in the first round of games.

West Ham manager David Moyes has rebuilt his reputation with the work he’s done with the Irons after experiencing difficult tenures at Manchester United, Sunderland and Real Sociedad.

After rescuing  the club from the jaws of relegation, David Moyes is now almost making history with every win on the continent.

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So what are some of the record’s his team will set if they beat Rapid Vienna?

First ever European Group Stage win at the London Stadium

The owners of West Ham promised the fans a project that would see the team compete amongst Europe’s elite when they moved to the London Stadium.

The first few years were filled with fan protest and agitation but five years down the line, the London Stadium will host a Europa League group stage game and the odds are hugely in favour of the Irons winning their first ever European game at the London Stadium.

The atmosphere around the club has since been transformed with the second coming of David Moyes and rather than looking over their shoulders, West Ham are looking up disrupting the continental football pyramid.

Michail Antonio to become first West Ham player to score in two European games for the club since 1999

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Michail Antonio opened the scoring at the Maksimir Stadium stadium to kill any momentum the Dinamo Zagreb might have had.

As per Opta, he will become the first West Ham player to have scored in two successive European games (excluding qualifiers) if he finds the back of the net against Rapid Vienna on Thursday night. Paolo di Canio was the last player to score in successive European games for the club.

Antonio, who arrived as a right-back, has played his way into the club’s history books already, recently overtaking Paolo di Canio as the club’s Premier League top scorer.

He scored his 48th top-flight goal for the Hammers against Leicester City to tie Di Canio before bagging his 49th goal minutes later to become the out-right top scorer and earn his side a 4-1 victory over the Foxes.

David Moyes looking to make his own little history

David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United celebrates following the Premier League match Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United celebrates following the Premier League match Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United celebrates following the Premier League match Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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David Moyes will be the first West Ham manager to lead the team to back-to-back victories in the Europa league since it began.

Moyes already made history at the start of the season when he led the team to four Premier League games without defeat, before eventually losing narrowly to Manchester United.

That was only the second time in the club’s 126-year history that they had started the season and not lost in the first four games.

He will now hope to write his name in iron in Europe with this team.

Team news

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David Moyes has no fitness issues, but is likely to rotate his team given the volume of games they have played already this month.

Rapid Vienna boss Dietmar Kühbauer has Christopher Dibon (arthroscopie), Oliver Strunz (unknown), Richard Strebinger (shoulder) and Lion Schuster (edema in the knee) not ready for selection.

Where can I watch West Ham v Rapid Vienna?

Tickets are still available for the match, so you can watch history from the London Stadium.

On TV, BT Sport has exclusive rights to show Europa League games live in the UK.

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Major games – mostly featuring the British teams – are likely to be shown on the main BT Sport 1, 2 or 3 channels, but matches will be spread across numerous channels.

Games on ‘BT Sport Extra’ can be enjoyed via the red button and all games are broadcast through their online player.

Check out the BT Sport website for the latest deals and explore how to sign up for its channels.

Alternatively, pick up a BT Sport monthly pass for just £25 to soak up a month’s worth of games without requiring a lengthy contract.