Sunday 13th March 2022
Premier League
@London Stadium, London
KO: 14:00 GMT
Aston Villa head to London in buoyant spirit as they look continue their fine form against West Ham United.
Villa’s 3-0 midweek victory away to Leeds United came on the back of a 4-0 win at home to Southampton and a 1-0 win away to Brighton.
West Ham come into the game having lost three in a row in all competitions losing 3-1 away to Southampton, 1-0 away to Liverpool and in the week they lost 1-0 away to Sevilla in the Europa League.
With them still being in the tie and the second leg coming in the week, it may be that manager David Moyes has one eye on the fixture on Thursday.
However, this is a strong West Ham team that have some quality players and have been impressive in many of their games. In fact at home they have won three out of their last five in the Premier League with their last three wins bringing clean sheets.
West Ham are still in the fight for fourth however Arsenal are building a gap and have three games in hand so the Europa League may be a favoured route to try and sneak an unexpected Champions League spot.
For Villa and manager Steven Gerrard it’s about getting as many points as possible until the end of the season and building a case for next season.
If Villa can win and pick up a fourth consecutive clean sheet, they would match a run last achieved in 2009 under Martin O’Neill.
West Ham won the league meeting earlier in the season with a 4-1 victory at Villa Park which came a week before the dismissal of Dean Smith.
West Ham Team News
David Moyes will be without the impressive Jarrod Bowen who came off with a calf injury against Liverpool.
Vladimir Coufal (hernia), Ryan Fredericks (groin) and Angelo Ogbonna (knee) all miss out, however Declan Rice should feature but will be assessed as he returned against Sevilla following a virus.
Possible starting line up:
Fabianski, Cresswell, Zouma, Dawson, Johnson, Rice, Soucek, Fornals, Benrahma, Lanzini, Antonio
Aston Villa Team News
Manager Steven Gerrard will be tempted to stick with the same line up again following a dominant win over Leeds United.
However, there are numerous sources that are saying Morgan Sanson and Emi Buendia could start over Jacob Ramsey and Danny Ings but this is yet to be confirmed.
Marvelous Nakamba (knee) is the only absentee.
Possible starting line up:
Martinez, Digne, Mings, Chambers, Cash, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Sanson, Buendia, Coutinho, Watkins
Opposition breakdown:
West Ham are credited for creating a lot of chances and getting the ball out wide quickly and they are strong in the air with a physically strong squad.
They have looked good on the counter attack and have been one of the best sides in the league at coming back from losing positions.
Their weaknesses have been labelled as defending against attacks down the wings as their wing backs push up regularly.
In regards to attacking, 27 of the 46 goals scored by West Ham have come from open play with 10 goals coming from set pieces, 4 from counter attacks, 3 from penalties and 2 own goals.
40% of their attacks have come down the left wing with 37% down the right-hand side and only 23% centrally as they look to utilise the likes of Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals on the flanks.
66% of their shots have come centrally with 55% coming from inside the 18-yard box, 34% outside of the box and just 12% inside the six-yard box.
Defensively, West Ham have conceded 35 goals with 26 from open play, 6 goals from set pieces, 2 from penalties and single goal from direct counter attacks.
72% of the shots conceded from opposition sides have come centrally with 57% of shots being inside the 18-yard box, 36% coming from outside the box and 7% within the six-yard box.
Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio are joint top scorers with 8 goals and they also lead with assists with Bowen on 8 and Antonio on 7.
West Ham are 6th in the ‘home table’ with 7 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats in comparison to Aston Villa who sit 10th in the away table with 6 wins, 0 draws and 8 losses on the road.
Head to Head record:
West Ham 43 wins, 34 Draws, Aston Villa 38 wins
Last five meetings:
31 Oct 2021 – Aston Villa 1-4 West Ham (Premier League)
03 Feb 2021 – Aston Villa 1-3 West Ham (Premier League)
30 Nov 2020 – West Ham 2-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
26 Jul 2020 – West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
16 Sep 2019 – Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham (Premier League)
AVILLAFAN MATCH PREDICTION
Both teams will want the win, Villa arguably have the form but West Ham are strong at home.
The first goal will dictate the game I feel.
West Ham 2-2 Aston Villa
Tip of the day
If you back the score prediction, the 1-1 draw is available at around 11/1 currently.
West Ham win – 6/4
Draw – 23/10
Aston Villa win – 9/5
No theory behind this one other than I really like both players, so I’ve picked out Tomas Soucek and Philippe Coutinho to both score at 20/1.
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