West Ham United v Olympiacos
UEFA Europa League Group A, London Stadium, Thursday 9 November, 8pm GMT
West Ham United continue the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League campaign with a Group A home match against Oympiacos.
The Irons travelled to Piraeus to face the Greek side in late October on matchday three, falling to a 2-1 defeat.
Nonetheless, the Hammers still sit top of Group A after three games, on six points, while Thursday’s opponents are third on four points.
Tickets...
Tickets for West Ham United's UEFA Europa League meeting with Olympiacos are on General Sale now!
We welcome the Super League Greece leaders to London Stadium on Thursday 9 November, with another special night under the east London lights in the offing.
David Moyes' men got their European campaign off to a winning start by seeing off FK TSC Bačka Topola 3-1 and SC Freiburg 2-1, and following a narrow reverse in Greece, will be wanting to get back on track and take a step towards the knockout stages.
Tickets are on General Sale now, so hurry to secure your seats here!
With prices starting at just £10 for Juniors and £30 Adults, this will be a night not to be missed!
Travel…
There is expected to be a good service across TfL lines on Thursday. There are no scheduled engineering works or diversions across the Central Line, Jubilee Line, DLR or Elizabeth Line and - delays notwithstanding - journeys to and from Stratford should proceed as normal.
Users of the London Overground should note that 11.59pm and 12.15am services westbound from Stratford will terminate at Camden Road, and supporters who are looking to travel onwards to Willesden Junction will need to consider alternative transportation.
C2C services are also anticipated to run as normal on Thursday, as well as on the Southeastern Railway.
Greater Anglia Railway is also scheduled to run a normal service.
How To Follow…
Thursday's tie will be broadcast live in the UK by TNT Sports. More information on how to watch can be found by clicking here.
You can also follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social channels.
Official Programme…
You can order your edition of the Official Programme for West Ham United v Olympiacos now here!
The 116-page publication is the largest in the Premier League and, at just £4 per issue, represents superb value for money for supporters wanting exclusive interviews, attention-grabbing opinions and eye-catching photographs, plus the regular news, columns and statistics and insightful content from across all areas of the Club.
The Official Programme is the definitive Claret and Blue publication for West Ham fans and the latest issue can be ordered here.
Team News…
Edson Álvarez and Lucas Paquetá both served domestic suspensions on Saturday, in West Ham’s Premier League visit to Brentford, and are available for Thursday’s European clash against Olympiacos.
For Olympiacos, Centre-back Nicolás Freire remains absent due to an injury, while full-back Doron Leidner is out with a cruciate ligament tear.
Omar Richards is also still a doubt for the visitors to London Stadium.
Opposition...
For the second time in three weeks, West Ham United will be facing the most-successful club in Greek football history on Thursday.
Crowned champions a record 47 times, Cup winners on 28 occasions and domestic double winners on a record 18 occasions, the club is based in Piraeus, which is the world-famous port city within the Greater Athens area.
Olympiacos became the first Greek club to play in European competition when they competed in the 1959/60 European Cup, losing 5-3 on aggregate to AC Milan in the preliminary round.
Olympiacos was also the first Greek club to advance to the next round of any European competition, eliminating Zagłębie Sosnowiec to reach the second round of the 1963/64 European Cup Winners' Cup.
The team’s best European campaign came in the 1998/99 campaign, reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals where they lost out on a semi-final spot to Juventus in the last minutes of the tie.
Olympiacos have played in the UEFA Europa League in the last six seasons, often becoming involved in the competition due to dropping down from the Champions League.
Currently sat second in the Super League Greece 1 table, manager Diego Martínez and his squad will be hoping for silverware success on the eve of the club’s centenary in the 2024/25 season.
Previous Meetings…
West Ham United first visited Piraeus on 1 December 1965, when Ron Greenwood’s European Cup Winners’ Cup holders defended a 4-0 second-round first-leg lead with a 2-2 draw in Greece.
In a game refereed by future 1966 FIFA World Cup final linesman Tofiq Bahramov, Martin Peters scored twice for West Ham, with an own-goal by Eddie Bovington and an 80th minute penalty by Kostas Polychroniou giving the home fans a reason to cheer.
Our only other visit to Greece came after another cup final appearance, this time the 2006 FA Cup final, in August 2006, when Alan Pardew’s side played two games in the space of three days in the northern city of Thessaloniki.
The first ended in a 2-2 draw with Aris and the second in a 2-1 defeat by their local rivals PAOK.
Incidentally, we then welcomed Olympiacos to the Boleyn Ground a week later for a 1-1 draw, in which Marlon Harewood hit the target.
Of course, our 2023/24 Group A campaign saw us visit Piraeus in late October too, where the Greek side ended West Ham's 17 game unbeaten run in Europe with a 2-1 win for the home side.
Match Officials…
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
Assistant Referee: Matej Žunič (Slovenia) & Manuel Vidali (Slovenia)
Fourth Official: Asmir Sagrković (Slovenia)
VAR: Christian Dingert (Germany)
Assistant VAR: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)
Matej Jug has been named as the referee for Thursday’s UEFA Europa League Group A match at London Stadium.
Jug, an experienced Slovenian official, has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2007 and possesses extensive experience of officiating in UEFA’s European competitions.
The 43-year-old first refereed in a Europa League qualifier in the 2007/08 season, taking charge of Lithuanian side FK Ekranas' 3-1 win away at B36 Tórshavn of the Faroe Islands. and stepped up to Champions League matches in the 2011/12 campaign.
On a domestic level, Jug has also refereed four Slovenian Football Cup finals, most recently officiating the 2018/19 final where NK Olimpija claimed a 2-1 win over NK Maribor.
He has taken charge of one other UEFA Europa League group stage match so far this season, refereeing AEK Athens’ 1-1 draw with Ajax in Group B in October.
Read on for more on our match officials here!
