UEFA Europa League group stage debutants TSC Bačka Topola welcome English opponents for the first time as they host top of the group West Ham on Matchday 5.
The Serbian side are bottom of Group A on one point and are fresh from a 5-0 defeat at German side Freiburg on Matchday 4 that leaves them three points behind third-placed Olympiacos.
Meanwhile, a 73rd-minute strike from Lucas Paquetá gave the Hammers a 1-0 home win against Olympiacos last time out, exacting revenge on their Greek opponents who had ended their then-English record of 17 European matches undefeated on Matchday 3 with a 2-1 victory in Piraeus.
West Ham won their first two games, 3-1 at home to TSC and 2-1 away to Freiburg, are top of the group on nine points, level with the German side.
A 90th-minute goal by Miloš Pantović earnt TSC a historic 2-2 draw against Olympiacos on Matchday 2, the Serbian side having come from two goals down. However, they had lost both of their other games 3-1, against West Ham and Freiburg, prior to their heavy defeat in Germany on Matchday 4.
Previous meetings
Matchday 1 at the London Stadium represented a first meeting between TSC and West Ham as well as being the first time either had played against a team from their opponents’ country.
The Serbian side opened the scoring three minutes after half-time through Petar Stanić only for West Ham to score three times in the final 25 minutes to secure a 3-1 win. Mohammed Kudus struck his first two goals for his new club in the 66th and 70th minute before Tomáš Souček made sure of the victory eight minutes from time.
Form guide
TSC Bačka Topola
Record vs English clubs: W0 D0 L1 F1 A3
Bačka Topola are playing European football for just the second time and are making a first appearance in the Europa League group stage.
Their second-place Serbian SuperLiga finish last season was the best in the club’s history, TSC finishing ahead of Čukarički on goal difference to take the runners-up spot behind Crvena zvezda.
TSC therefore entered this season’s UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, losing 7-1 on aggregate to Portuguese side Braga (0-3 a, 1-4 h) to move across to the Europa League group stage.
The Serbian side’s only previous season of Europa League football, in 2020/21, proved eventful after a 2-0 victory away at Petrocub Hîncești in the first qualifying round. That set up a match against FCSB that finished in a remarkable 6-6 draw and which included four goals in extra time, two TSC players sent off and eventually a 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory for the Romanian side.
The UEFA group stage debutants are without a win in their four previous home European matches (D2 L2), scoring ten goals in those games but conceding 15.
West Ham
Record vs Serbian clubs: W1 D0 L0 F3 A1
The Hammers were unbeaten in all 15 of their UEFA Europa Conference League matches last season, winning 14, on their way to the title. Jarrod Bowen scored a late winner to seal a 2-1 victory in the final against Fiorentina in Prague and earn a place in this season’s Europa League group stage.
This is the first time in the club’s history that they have played in Europe in three consecutive seasons. This is also their second appearance in the Europa League group stage having failed to make it through qualifying rounds in both 2015/16 and 2016/17.
David Moyes’ side finished top of Group H in 2021/22, winning four of their six matches (D1 L1), scoring 11 goals and conceding just three.
West Ham’s 2-1 defeat at Olympiacos on Matchday 3 was their first loss away from home in nine European matches (W7 D1).
Links and trivia
West Ham’s summer signing Konstantinos Mavropanos played 90 minutes of Greece’s 1-0 friendly defeat in Montenegro on 28 March 2022, a match in which Marko Rakonjac made his international debut for the home side as a late substitute.
Izvor: Link
