Aston Villa welcome West Ham to Villa Park in the second part of a Super Halloween Sunday double bill.
Victory would see Villa climb as high as 11th in the table, whereas victory would see West Ham stay fourth but move level on points with third-placed Manchester City.
Team News
Morgan Sanson and Jaden Philogene-Bidace are both doubtful for Villa due to illness.
Bertrand Traore (thigh) and Keinan Davis (fitness) could return but Trezeguet (knee) remains absent.
West Ham have no fresh injury concerns to report with Alex Kral set to return after missing the Hammers’ last four matches after he tested positive for Coronavirus.
Stat Attack
- Aston Villa are winless in their last six league meetings against West Ham (D3, L3).
- West Ham are unbeaten in four of their last five visits to Villa Park (W2, D2, L1).
- David Moyes’ Hammers scored first in both meetings last season.
- Leon Bailey, Marvelous Nakamba and Bertrand Traore have all been utilised as a substitute more times than any other Villa player this season in the Premier League.
- West Ham’s last five league goals have all been scored after half-time, with two of those goals coming from Michail Antonio.
Prediction
Having been subjected to a physical contest in their defeat at Arsenal last weekend, Villa will be hoping to attack this game more on their own terms after often getting caught out on the counter-attack although Emiliano Martinez did make some excellent saves.
West Ham meanwhile seem to have a buzz about them at present which was evident in their well-earned midweek win over Man City in the Carabao Cup, whilst their league win over Tottenham last weekend showed that they have the aggression needed to cause issues for oppositional defenders.
I am therefore expecting both teams to really turn up and put in a strong fight because they both have the ability to go and win this, yet I have a feeling that West Ham should win this if they’re clinical and can maximise their counter-attacking quality.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 West Ham
Result: Aston Villa 1-4 West Ham