MY ACCOUNT
West Ham have suffered a stuttering start to their domestic campaign and it is difficult to gauge whether a Europa Conference League campaign will be an unnecessary distraction or an opportunity to build confidence and momentum.
Workload and fatigue is going to be a problem for all the clubs involved in Europe this condensed, World Cup-interrupted season and the Hammers have already suffered issues with a concentration of injuries in defence.
However, victory in the Europa Conference League could well prove to be West Ham’s easiest route to more European football in 2023-24 and the revenue earned from a lengthy run in the competition would be welcomed by the board.
With manager David Moyes adding depth throughout his squad over the summer, Hammers fans will be pleased to see their team given a kind group stage draw in which rotation should not come at too great a cost.
Danish minnows Silkeborg should prove easy meat and the once-imposing Anderlecht are on track for their leanest spell since the 1970s.
But first it is the most successful club in Romania, FCSB, who were once European heavyweights and continental champions under their former title of Steaua Bucuresti, but now struggle to dominate their domestic league, going seven seasons without a league title.
Team news
Moyes’ defensive issues are slowly clearing up but Nayef Aguerd remains absent and Ben Johnson and Craig Dawson are major doubts for this match.
Aaron Cresswell has had a groin problem so is unlikely to be risked but Angelo Ogbonna should continue on his route to full match fitness by taking one of the centre-back slots.
Reserve goalkeeper Alphonse Areola will be a regular starter in Europe and new signings Maxwel Cornet and Gianluca Scamacca will be looking to make an impression, with the latter expected to recover from illness for this game.
Declan Rice returns from the two-match European suspension that saw him sidelined for play-offs but the captain may be rested anyway.
There are suggestions FCSB manager Nicolae Dica is under pressure going into this match and the former Romania international seems set to abandon his previously preferred 4-2-3-1 formation in favour of a 4-3-3.
Dica has indicated he wants to move rising star Octavian Popescu out wide to help get the best out of the 19-year-old attacker and he may also drop centre-back Joyskim Dawa, who has made a series of costly blunders this season.
The FCSB manager has a host of key players out injured, with his defence particularly affected.
Left-back Ionut Pantiru has been absent for over a year, regular right-back Ovidiu Popescu ruptured a cruciate ligament last month and first-choice centre-back Iulian Cristea will be out until the new year.
Centre forward Andrei Dumiter and defensive midfielder Adrian Sut are also both not expected back until mid-October.
The stats
FCSB have won just six of their last 24 group stage games across all European competitions, with the only away victories in that time coming at Hapoel Be’er Sheva and FC Lugano in 2017.
The Romanians have been knocked out of Europe in the qualifying stages in the past four seasons, getting dumped out of the Europa Conference League by Shakhter Karagandy at the second qualifying round last term.
They are also currently struggling domestically, winning only one of their seven Liga I outings.
That success was hardly impressive either as it came on home soil, 3-2 against rock-bottom Chindia Targoviste, who were reduced to 10 men in the seventh minute but still managed to go 2-0 up before tiring and capitulating.
Prediction
FCSB are not the force they once were, losing their position as Romania’s dominant club to CFR Cluj in the past half-decade and last winning a Liga I title in 2015.
Nor is the squad or manager currently in good shape, with a swathe of important players unavailable through injury and the club’s president reportedly interfering in Dica’s team selections.
West Ham have their own injury problems but their summer recruitment has added strength in depth and there are plenty of talented new arrivals with a point to prove as they try to force their way into the first team.
At their best, FCSB would offer a rotated West Ham side a tricky test but away from home, under pressure, low on confidence and missing almost their entire first-choice back line, the visitors look highly vulnerable.
Moyes should be able to rest several star men and still come out on top with a comfortable home win.
