West Ham winger Said Benrahma has insisted that his side’s defeat to Olympiacos was a “one-off” and that they plan to prove that tonight.

The Hammer’s undefeated run came to an end last time out in Europe, losing 2-1 to Olympiacos in Athens. It was a dismal performance and, on another day, the home side could have won by a lot more. West Ham not extending their run allowed Manchester City to break the record for the most games unbeaten by an English side in Europe.

However, according to Said Benrahma, the whole squad are determined to right their wrongs in the return fixture.

“That last game, to be honest, we did not play as well as we should,” the Algerian confessed to WHUFC.com. “It was not good for us. We didn’t play our usual football and we can do better.”

“We need to forget that away game and focus on this game. We know sometimes that games are hard, and our performance as a group in the away game against Olympiacos was not good for us, but we have faith in our abilities and can be confident about the home game.”

Benrahma has struggled for form recently, but based on his last couple of performances he looks eager to fight for his place in the starting XI. Although, it is not just himself who needs to prove a point, the whole squad needs to step up their game if we are to get back to winning ways. 

“We need to prove that the away game against Olympiacos was a one-off, a mistake. We need to keep doing what we’ve been doing in Europe over the last two or three seasons and come back stronger,” he stated, adding “we need to win this game!”

Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere from the Olympiacos fans was something that a lot of the players would have never experienced before. It was deafening, hostile and that made it very difficult for the away side. Tonight though, Benrahma has encouraged the East London faithful to be the “twelfth man”.

“I can remember two years ago in the round of 16 match against Sevilla. The noise that day was amazing. And it has been for every European night we’ve played. When those fans are giving us their support and positivity, it pushes us to be even better and gives us more energy. They will help give us the power we need in this game,” he concluded.

A win tonight would see our Irons move 5 points clear of third place, putting us in an extremely strong position to make it out of the group. A loss would move Olympiacos above us. It is an absolutely vital match, one will require every single player to be on top of their game. Let’s hope they are up to the task and can really right their wrongs like Benrahma has stated.

By Charlie Bass