Victory this evening will go some way to cementing their position as Europa League Group A winners. As last year’s Europa Conference League champions go up against a side who are making their first ever appearance in Europe, see below for an eyebrow-raising West Ham vs Backa Topola squad value comparison.
What Country Are Backa Topola From?
Nestled in the small Serbian town of the same name, it is a proud moment for its near-15,000 inhabitants, as the nation’s second-oldest football club finally samples the dizzying heights of European football.
They welcome one of the most valuable clubs in world football to the TSC Arena – a stadium that houses around 4,500 fans. West Ham needed until the the 66th minute to begin overturning a one goal deficit in the first meeting between these two.
Backa Topola will hope returning to home soil – where they claimed their only point of the campaign against Olympiacos – may spark a late charge towards a Europa Conference League play-off spot. However, only Swedish minnows BK Hacken have conceded as many goals as Backa Topola in the Europa League this season.
West Ham vs Backa Topola Squad Value Comparison
Backa Topola finished as the 2022/23 Serbian runners-up just four seasons after playing their first ever top-flight match. As you would expect, their romantic journey to get to this stage has garnered welcomed attention for the club, who have achieved European qualification with extremely limited resources.
For context, their entire squad has a combined market value of just €22.43m according to Transfermarkt, and their record transfer fee is just over €4m.
That of course pales in comparison to West Ham’s economic vigour – Czech billionaire owner Daniel Kretisnky along with long-time chief shareholder David Sullivan have a combined net worth of well over £10 billion.
Nine of West Ham’s players have an individual market value higher than Backa Topeka’s overall squad total, with the Hammers’s most valuable asset – Lucas Paqueta – worth around €43 million more alone.
Taking each side’s squad values into account, West Ham are worth just under €450 million more than Thursday night’s opponents.
What Do West Ham Need to Qualify?
Both West Ham and Bundesliga side Freiburg sit pretty atop Group A heading into the penultimate gameweek. The tussle for who reigns supreme at the close of the group stage could reach a fascinating climax when the two meet in December, but for now the Hammers can take a huge leap forward in Serbia on Thursday.
West Ham will confirm their top-two status with a victory, while a Freiburg win in the other match against Olympiacos would also be enough.
However, they will have to wait until, what could be one of the ties of the competition for far to find out who tops the group, and as a result, evades an unwanted meeting with Champions League sides dropping down as third-place finishers.
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