West Ham United are in action on Thursday night as they bid to reach the final of the Europa Conference League.

The first leg started worryingly for the Hammers, as AZ Alkmaar took the lead just before the interval through a strike from Tijjani Reijnders that shocked the London Stadium.

Luckily for David Moyes, his side put things right before the end of the first 90-minute instalment of the tie, thanks to a Said Benrahma penalty and a 75th-minute Michail Antonio winner.

On Thursday, the Irons take a 2-1 lead to the AFAS Stadium with the goal to reach the final against one of Basel or Fiorentina in Prague.

A lot of West Ham’s success this season rides on the outcome of the semi-final, with the Hammers just scraping safety, Moyes’ influence could be further questioned should his side fail to make the final.

Should Lukasz Fabianksi start in the semi-final?

Following the first leg of the semi-final, there has been increased debate about whether Moyes should hand Lukasz Fabianski his first minutes of European football this term in the semi-final.

The 38-year-old has been favoured in the Premier League over Alphonse Areola, who has played every game in the Conference League this campaign.

In the last fixture, the Frenchman was arguably at fault for Alkmaar’s opener, with his attempt to keep the ball out from his near post dubbed as “shocking” by one prominent West Ham fan account on Twitter.

While the two shot-stoppers are perhaps similar in quality, the former-Arsenal shot-stopper has the edge in one crucial attribute that could merit his start on Thursday evening in a game that could define the club’s season.

Indeed, Fabianski has 11 Premier League penalty saves to his name in 350 appearances, and has been lauded for his abilities at saving penalty kicks in the past, including being praised as “faultless” by Arsene Wenger in 2010 for his Champions League spot save against Partizan Belgrade.

Last time out the £65k-per-week ‘keeper earned a Sofascore match rating of 7.5 against Brentford in the Premier League, a performance higher than Areola’s in the European competition, who scored 6.5 in the first leg.

It’s a tough call for Moyes to make, with the Frenchman being a professional member of the squad in his patience which is rewarded through his starting place in the cup competitions.

With so much at stake for both manager and club, only time will tell if the Scotsman makes the audacious decision to switch who starts between the sticks in the Netherlands.