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Jonty Colman

The best and worst case scenarios for West Ham in Europa Conference League as Lazio crash out

West Ham United will discover who they will face in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League on Friday afternoon.

The Hammers booked their place into next month’s last eight stage with a 6-0 aggregate victory over Cypriot side AEK Larnaca, sealing a 4-0 second leg victory at the London Stadium on Thursday night

West Ham will discover not only their quarter-final opponents, but also, who they will face in the semi-finals in May if they win their last-eight tie, with both draws taking place on Friday.

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The seven sides joining West Ham in the last eight are Lech Poznan (Poland), Fiorentina (Italy), Basel (Switzerland), AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), Nice (France), Anderlecht (Belgium) and Gent (Belgium).

Of the Hammers’ seven potential quarter-final opponents, here is a look at the best and worst case scenarios for the Hammers in today's draw.

Best case scenario

Of the eight quarter-finalists in the competition including West Ham, four sides are ranked between 35th and 51st in UEFA’s Club Coefficient Rankings. The other four are sat between 102nd and 116th.

The sides with significantly worse rankings are Fiorentina (102), Lech Poznan (110), Anderlecht (113) and Nice (116).

Nice are the worst-ranked side in the competition and would be among the shorter journeys, based on the south of France, but currently sit seventh in Ligue 1.

The next worst-ranked team are Anderlecht, another short journey for the Hammers. They have already beaten Anderlecht twice those season, but Anderlecht have knocked out last season’s Champions League semi-finalists Villarreal to get into the last eight.

Despite that, they sit ninth in the Belgian Pro League, making them another favourable side to hope for.

Like West Ham, Fiorentina are having a tough season in Serie A and sit 11th, but could be a favourable draw. Again, it would be a relatively short journey, with West Ham keen to avoid a long trip.

Worst case scenario

Dutch side AZ Alkmaar are one of two sides ranked above West Ham by UEFA and have reached the last eight after seeing off Italian giants Lazio over two legs.

Domestically, they sit 3rd in Eredivisie and are still an outside shot for the Dutch league title, making them arguably the side to avoid.

Basel (35th) are the best-ranked side in the competition by UEFA but domestically, have struggled this season and sit sixth in the Swiss top-flight.

Gent are the other higher-ranked side in the competition and breezed past Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir in the round of 16. However, they sit sixth in the Belgian Pro League. Therefore, AZ Alkmaar looks like the team to avoid.

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