Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Europa League qualifying game between West Ham and FC Astra.

Alves hoofs away a ball that Valencia was chasing, and Astra quickly win a free kick.

Oxford appears to be playing in defensive midfield, and at just 16 that's a risk.

The match gets underway.

Jacob is the West Ham expert, so I'll be stealing his views to embed them here throughout the match.

If you'd like to comment on the match, feel free to get in touch on Twitter on @lxndrnthrtn.

FC Astra are in good form right now, but they are from one of Europe's weaker leagues, so there's little optimism for the neutral who wants an upset.

Debuts for Payet, from Marseille, and Ogbonna, from Juventus, show how much the new television deal has given the mid-table sides the fund to strengthen.

West Have a strong team having done much of their pre-season elsewhere, with reserve teams taking up the slack in other matches. They are strong favourites tonight, as long as they are sharp enough so early in the season.

This is how new West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has decided to reintroduce himself to the British public, in a bold Swastika-defending gambit.

TEAMS: West Ham: Adrian, Cresswell, Oxford, Ogbonna, Collins, O'Brien, Noble, Kouyate, Payet, Valencia, Zarate. Subs: Spiegel, Nolan, Jarvis, Maiga, Poyet, Burke, Samuelsen. /// FC Astra: Lung, Alves, Seto, Enache, Budescu, Morais, Boldrin, Gaman Teixeira, Quieros, De Amorim. Subs: Gavrilas, Florea, Oros, Lovin, Dandea, Alves, Stan.