West Ham, who were among the title contenders of this tournament, suffered a narrow defeat 1:0 in Freiburg which forced them to make a huge performance and do it in the hard way at home now to qualify.

In that game West Ham generated good chances (1.65 expected goals) but missed them, whilst Freiburg found the net at 81’ to score the definitive and unique goal in the game. However, West Ham was much better and deserved to win. Freiburg’s goalkeeper Noah Atubolu also made a fantastic game with great saves. Furthermore, referee Alejandro Hernandez belatedly made his way to the screen - which almost always precedes a penalty being given -, questionably denying a clear penalty to the Hammers in the last minute.

Freiburg is a weak team without experience in this competition. They never reached ¼ finals, so this would be a historic success for them. In the Bundesliga they are in poor form, sitting 8th in the table and 7 points below TOP6/Europe.

They were also very lucky in the 1/16 finals against Lens, as they were losing 0:2 at home at 66’ in the second game, but forced the ET scoring a late goal at 92’, to win the game later in the extra-time.

I remember the group stage games, where West Ham and Freiburg shared a group (and where West Ham finished 1st with 15 points and Freiburg 2nd with 12 points), and West Ham dominated both games against Freiburg, winning 2:0 at home and 1:2 away. They showed more quality and were a better team.

The Hammers need to improve, especially in defense which has been a concern during this season conceding many chances and goals. However, Freiburg has an offensive mindset and surely will propose here an open game, where chances for both teams will be created.

In this scenario, West Ham has much more quality upfront with the likes of Jarrod Bowen (17 goals this season), Kudus Mogammed (10 goals) or Tomas Soucek (9 goals), added to the quality of Ward-Prowse who is the main assist-man of the team.

After seeing the last three encounters between both teams this season, and the quality in both squads, added to the home advantage, I believe that West Ham is clearly the favorite to win and qualify here.

西汉姆曾是本届杯赛的冠军争夺者之一，但在弗莱堡1:0惨败，这迫使他们拿出了出色的表现，并在主场艰难地晋级。

在那场比赛中，西汉姆联创造了很好的机会(1.65个预期进球)，但是错失了机会，而弗赖堡在81分破门，打进了比赛中决定性的、独一无二的进球。然而，西汉姆要好得多，他们理应获胜。弗赖堡门将诺亚·阿图博卢也做出了精彩的扑救。此外，主裁判亚历杭德罗·埃尔南德斯(Alejandro Hernandez)姗姗姗姗来地来到屏幕前——这几乎总是在点球判罚之前——在最后一分钟拒绝给铁锤帮一个明显的点球。

弗赖堡是一支没有比赛经验的弱队。他们从未进入过四分之一决赛，所以这对他们来说将是历史性的成功。在德甲，他们状态不佳，排名第8，比欧洲前6低7分。

在1/16决赛对阵蓝斯的比赛中，他们也非常幸运，在第二场比赛中，他们在主场以0:2落后于66分，但在加时赛中，他们迫使ET在92分的最后时刻进球，赢得了比赛。

我记得小组赛，西汉姆联和弗莱堡同组(西汉姆联以15分排名第一，弗莱堡以12分排名第二)，西汉姆联对弗莱堡的两场比赛都占据了统治地位，主场2:0，客场1:2获胜。他们表现出了更高的质量，是一支更好的球队。

铁锤帮需要改进，特别是在防守方面，这个赛季他们丢掉了很多机会和进球。然而，弗赖堡有进攻的心态，肯定会在这里提出一场开放的比赛，这将为两队创造机会。

在这种情况下，西汉姆联拥有杰拉德·鲍恩(本赛季打进17球)、库德斯·莫加默德(本赛季打进10球)和托马斯·苏塞克(本赛季打进9球)这样的前锋，再加上球队的主要助攻沃德-普劳斯的实力。

看了这两支球队本赛季的最后三次交锋，以及两支球队的实力，再加上主场优势，我相信西汉姆显然是最有希望获胜并晋级的球队。