Two sides who are quite well known around Europe go head-to-head for a place in the Europa League group stages.
Astra suffered a mauling at the hands of Danish champions FC Copenhagen in the Champions League third qualifying round and were thus demoted into the Europa League qualifiers. Things have hardly fared better domestically with Marius Șumudică’s side finding themselves in ninth place in Liga I after four games, having only just notched their first win of the season last weekend.
West Ham faced a tough opening Premier League fixture against Chelsea and their new boss Antonio Conte on Monday night. However, manager Slaven Bilic will take heart from the fact they managed to score away at Stamford Bridge and nearly nicked a point but for a last minute Diego Costa winner.
Unlike previous seasons, with the Hammers moving into the Olympic Stadium, it is vital that there is European football at the club. In previous campaigns West Ham have almost thrown away Europa League football to ensure Premier League survival. However, with the new stadium, they need to start moving forward as a club and look to compete on more fronts – Europe being one of those.
I imagine Slaven Bilic will pick a strong squad for this game in order to make sure they have almost a 100% chance of getting through the tie come the home leg in London next week.
There is of course no value in the straight West Ham win so punters will need to look at other markets. With Astra in a spot of bother I would expect them to be no match for this exciting Hammers side. You can get good value by looking at the ‘Winning Margin’ markets. For West Ham to win by a margin of two goals is a good bet at 4/1 or, alternatively, 17/2 to win by three if you are feeling extra confident.
See more tips here.