West Ham are gearing up for grudge match clash with Olympiacos

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West Ham are gearing up for grudge match clash with Olympiacos at the London Stadium with the Hammers riled by the Greek side’s raucous celebrations in Athens after shock 2-1 win in the Europa League

  • Angelo Ogbonna was among those targeted by lasers against Olympiacos 
  • The Hammers were beaten 2-1 by the Greek giants in Athens last time out 
  • Chris Sutton tells all on the hardest day of his career – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off

West Ham consider Thursday night’s visit of Olympiacos a grudge match after witnessing the Greek hosts celebrate their group game victory two weeks ago as if they had won the Europa League.

David Moyes’ men could see and hear the celebrations down the corridor from their changing room at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens when they lost 2-1 and are now using that as motivation.

Players including James Ward-Prowse and Angelo Ogbonna have admitted they were riled by their opponents’ behaviour in the aftermath of that disappointing defeat and are promising to show a ‘different West Ham’ on Thursday.

‘It is football,’ said Ogbonna. ‘With the way they celebrated their win, maybe if we had the same win we would be a little bit more respectful, but it is football.’

Ogbonna was among those targeted by lasers at Olympiacos and continued: ‘As a British club we are more respectful with that part of the game but they are very passionate fans. That’s something you rarely see in football. We look forward to play the game and to get the three points.’

David Moyes’ side will welcome Olympiacos to the London Stadium on Thursday in a ‘grudge match’ clash

The Greek side celebrated the 2-1 win last time out in raucous fashion at the 

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Ward-Prowse added: ‘It wasn’t a good performance from us, admittedly. The way they reacted after they won the game – you could hear it down the corridor – we spoke about it and said it’s a good opportunity coming to put that right and show them something.

‘You could see a different West Ham then, for sure. Evening games in general are more gritty, it has a bit more bite to it, so it’ll be an interesting one.’

Moyes wants West Ham’s 60,000-strong support to make sure the London Stadium is intimidating after the extraordinary welcome they received in Athens. 

‘There are some brilliant stadiums when they’re rocking – Anfield, Old Trafford – but I think we all enjoyed it greatly because it was an incredible atmosphere,’ said Moyes, whose team remain top of their group.

‘We have an awful lot of good things in the Premier League but I don’t think we should get carried away thinking we have the best atmospheres because if you go and watch a lot of European games you’d be quite shocked with how good the crowds are. 

‘We weren’t shocked by Greece but it helped their team greatly, the support they had.’

Moyes wants West Ham’s London Stadium to create a noise and atmosphere to rival the extraordinary welcome they received in Athens

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