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Fiorentina vs West Ham: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Fiorentina and West Ham United will look to become the 2022/23 Conference League champions when both sides meet at the competition’s final in Fortuna Arena in Prague.

After over a dozen games in Europe, both teams have reached the climax and are desperate to land their first European title in over five decades.

Winning this trophy isn’t just for the sake of winning for both sides,  as a win here also offers them a route back to European football after they both finished outside of the European qualification positions in their domestic leagues.

Fiorentina, who finished eighth in the Serie A, qualified for this stage courtesy of a 4-3 aggregate win over Basel. After losing 2-1 at home in the first leg, the Violets defeated Basel 3-1 in extra time away from home to reach this round.

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Qualification for this final means they became the first team to reach the final of all four major UEFA competitions. Therefore, their goal now that they are in the final will be to improve their win rate in UEFA finals after lifting a European trophy just once in four prior attempts (W1, L3).

Meanwhile, West Ham United have endured a terrible domestic season, finishing in 14th place in the Premier League. 

Yet, they have enjoyed their most successful European season in recent years, going unbeaten throughout this European campaign (W13, D1). David Moyes’ men defeated AZ Alkmaar 3-1 on aggregate to book their place in this round, so they should be confident of winning the most important game of this Conference League campaign.

But, they cannot afford to carry their league form into this game as they won just two of their final seven league fixtures (L5). If they want to win here and lift a second-ever European title, they must keep their European form and improve on their previous performances against Italian sides.

Meanwhile, West Ham have scored an average of 2.25 goals per UECL game this season, while Fiorentina have scored an average of 2.57 goals. So we are expecting over 2.5 goals in this game in Prague.

Villarreal vs Hajduk Split Match Preview

Villarreal reached the semi-final stage of the Champions League last season, but that came at the cost of poor domestic form.

Because of that, they would play in the Europa Conference League in this campaign.

Unai Emery is one of the most successful managers in European competitions and this is his first time managing a club in this competition.

The Spaniards have been preparing well for this season with several transfer activities and they would want to be in a European competition.

Split is one of Croatia’s most successful football clubs and they will want to fly their country’s flag in the Conference League.

Because of Villarreal’s history in European competition, the Croats know they are not the favourites, but that could play to their advantage and make it easy for them to cause an upset.

Emery will not want to underrate them and we expect his team to work hard to earn a very good first-leg advantage in this game.

Villarreal won their first league game of the season at the weekend 3-0 and they haven’t lost a match in five attempts.

Split has lost their last two matches, but they won the previous three.

This game will see at least 2 goals scored, so we predict over 1.5 goals.

For other 1.5 goals prediction of the day, click here.

Basel vs Brondby Match Preview

Basel will be keen to overturn the defeat they suffered in the first leg of this Europa Conference League match.
Brondby missed the chance to take a comfortable lead into this second leg, and they now know a goal from the hosts will square the tie.
Basel has been on a terrible run of form with no wins from their last four matches, and they have drawn three of them.
That does not help them in any way, and as they enter this fixture, they know they must do more to win in front of their fans.
Brondby lost their last competitive game to Copenhagen 4-1, but their opponents in that match were better than Basel has been for some time now.
The visitors have two wins from their last five competitive games, the other three have ended in losses.
The unpredictable form of this teams mean this game could very likely end in a draw.

Vitoria Guimaraes vs Hajduk Split Match Preview

Vitoria Guimaraes has their work cut out ahead of this second leg of the Europa Conference League qualifiers after losing the first 3-1.

Hajduk Split is one of Croatia’s biggest clubs, and they will be desperate to represent their country in the competition group stages this term.

They have been in stunning form recently, winning all their last three competitive games, including the first leg of this encounter.

They know it would not be easy to maintain their form in the first leg, but they have to be in top shape to finish the job.

Guimaraes beat Chaves away from home 1-0 in their last competitive game to prepare for this match, and they will feel they have the momentum.

But their visitors are well-rested and haven’t played a game since that first leg.

This game would be tough for both sides, but it would unlikely see as many as four goals from the first leg.

Under 2.5 Goals is a good bet for it. For other similar tips click here.