West Ham United begin life at London Stadium on Thursday needing to overturn a first-leg deficit to see off Slovenian side NK Domzale in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round – and history could be on their side.
The Hammers have tasted defeat in all of their last three European trips, but their record in east London is far more formidable and it is that which Slaven Bilic and his side will look to ahead of their second leg match-up.
This is West Ham’s eighth European campaign – a span which has seen them play 23 home games.
Of those 23, 16 have ended in West Ham victories, with only four defeats. With a 70% win rate in Europe at home, it shows the size of the task facing Domzale as they look to protect their slender first leg advantage gained by Matic Crnic’s double.
As disappointing as the Hammers were in defeat in Ljubljana, there were still positive points to take to their second leg at home.
Slaven Bilic’s men enjoyed 59.2 per cent of the ball, making 395 passes as opposed to 255 from the home side.
Undoubtedly there are areas for the Hammers to sharpen up on in the next week – they won 69 per cent of their tackles compared to a figure of 82 per cent from Domzale, and their shooting was not as accurate.
35 per cent – or six of 17 attempts – from Domzale troubled Adrian, while West Ham hit the target with 30 per cent of theirs.
As Sam Byram commented after the game, a full week’s training will give Bilic’s side the chance to get their sharpness back and get to where they want to be, and should they replicate those possession statistics, then a greater threat in front of goal should follow.
A more familiar sight on Thursday was that of Mark Noble stroking a penalty home. It was the skipper’s 27th successful spot kick conversion in Hammers colours.
Now having missed just once in his last 22 attempts from the spot, Noble enjoys an enviable success rate of 90 per cent when standing over penalties.
The No16 truly is Mr Reliable in such situations and, with a week to take their pre-season progress to the next level, Bilic will be sure of a more familiar performance all round from his team as they look to progress to the Europa League play-off round next week.