Three things West Ham have to do
Stop Ndombele
English fans rarely saw the best of Tanguy Ndombele, but the Tottenham loanee offered a glimpse of what he can do in the first leg.
Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice struggled to get to grips with the midfielder and he was allowed to drop deep, drive forward and dominate.
Show European know-how
West Ham may be new at this level, but there are a few who have been here before. Soucek and Vladimir Coufal have Champions League experience, as do Andriy Yarmolenko and Alphonse Areola.
Having been riled last week, it is crucial West Ham keep their cool.
Help out Antonio
David Moyes has called out his No9 — and the forward needs to start delivering. Antonio can always cause problems, but at times looks isolated.
The likes of Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen need to be quick to move up and support their striker to get him firing.
Pearce leads tributes to Foe
Stuart Pearce has led the tributes to Marc-Vivien Foe ahead of tonight’s clash.
Foe played for both West Ham and Lyon during his career, before joining Manchester City where Pearce was his manager. He tragically collapsed while playing for Cameroon and passed away an hour later.
Pearce said: “I’ve got some really fond memories of Marc – more so as a man, and that’s the more important thing I think. That stands the test of time, what people are like as human beings.
“Hopefully Marc will be looking down and enjoying the game tonight from wherever, and hopefully there’s a good entertaining game for him to smile upon, but we’ll be thinking of him this evening.”
Pretty much as expected from West Ham. Diop comes in to replace Zouma, while Johnson starts at left-back in place of the suspended Cresswell. Coufal comes in on the right.
For Lyon, Ndombele and Aouar are both fit to start, while Toko Ekambi is also in from the off. Paqueta has to settle for a place on the bench.
Lyon team news
Starting XI: Pollersbeck, Gusto, Denayer, Lukeba, Emerson, Faivre, Mendes, Ndombele, Ekambi, Aouar, Dembele.
Subs: Bonnevie, Lucas Paqueta, Kadewere, Dubois, Keita, Tete, Da Silva, Reine-Adelaide, Barcola, Boateng, Barcola.
West Ham team news
Starting XI: Areola; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Johnson; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals; Antonio
Subs: Fabianski, Randolph, Alese, Masuaku, Fredericks, Noble, Kral, Chesters, Perkins, Yarmolenko, Benrahma, Vlasic
Late boost for Lyon, with Lucas Paqueta expected to be included in their matchday squad.
The Brazilian had still been testing positive for Covid-19 this morning, but another taken this afternoon came back negative.
We should find out very shortly whether or not he returns!
Antonio: We’re going to win
Michail Antonio has warned Lyon that West Ham are ready for a fight to conquer their dark arts as they bid to reach the Europa League semi-finals.
Former Fulham man Moussa Dembele was seen winking at a team-mate after drawing the foul which led to Cresswell’s dismissal, and David Moyes warned last week that football can come back to bite you.
“There’s always an edge,” said Antonio. “It’s a quarter-final. We know we need to go out there and win. Last week was edgy, tonight is going to be edgy and tonight there’s going to be a fight.
“The way things are going now, we’re going to win it. We’re in it to win it. When we’ve had knock-backs, we’ve always come back from them. Last week [in the first leg], we showed our resilience.
“We believe we can come here and win the game. That’s the plan. It’s been a physical season, a lot of games, but you can see the resilience we have.
“It’s a great opportunity for us. It’s a dream come true to get this far and we’re not going to let anyone take it from us.”
Europa League winners
Ahead of the second-leg matches tonight, here are the latest odds. Barcelona favourites to win the Europa League this season.
West Ham and Lyon can’t be separated in the outright market, but it’s the French side who are the favourites to make it through to the last four.
Barcelona: 6/5
RB Leipzig: 4/1
Atalanta: 4/1
West Ham: 8/1
Lyon: 8/1
Braga: 20/1
Eintracht Frankfurt: 20/1
Rangers: 33/1
Odds via Betfair.
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