Fiorentina vs West Ham United Preview

The 2022/23 Conference League season will end this Wednesday when Fiorentina and West Ham face off at the Fortuna Arena in Prague.

Both sides come into this fixture looking to win their first piece of silverware in over 50 years. Both sides also finished outside of the European qualification positions in their domestic leagues so winning here is their only way back into European competition next season.

Fiorentina booked their place in Prague courtesy of a 4-3 aggregate win over Basel. After losing 2-1 at home in the first leg, the Italians beat Basel 3-1 in Portugal to pass to this round. By qualifying for this final, they became the first team to reach the final of all four major competitions.

Their goal will now be to improve their record rate in finals after lifting a European trophy just once in four prior attempts (W1, L3).

Meanwhile, West Ham endured a terrible domestic season, finishing in 14th place in the Premier League. But they have enjoyed a remarkable run to the final of this tournament winning 13 out of the 14 games they played (D1).

They beat Dutch side Alkmaar 3-1 on aggregate to qualify for this round but won just two of their final seven league fixtures (L5).

So, they cannot afford to carry their league form into this game if they want to win here and lift a second-ever European title.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina have scored an average of 2.57 goals per UECL game this season (West Ham: 2.25) so this promises to be an entertaining game.