Aston Villa look to boost their top-four ambitions against relegation-battling West Ham in a Premier League clash.
Victory will see fourth-placed Villa move five points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool, whilst West Ham will move out of the relegation zone with a win
Team News
Villa have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 2-0 Europa League victory at home to Lille, with Youri Tielemans set to return from his ankle injury subject to a late fitness test.
Boubacar Kamara remains absent with a knee injury.
West Ham will welcome Oliver Scarles back after he missed their 1-1 draw against Manchester City due to a knock.
Crysencio Summerville (hamstring) and Lukasz Fabianski (back) are sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Villa host West Ham at Villa Park on Sunday 22 March at 2:15pm GMT, live on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Villa have avoided defeat in their last six league meetings against West Ham (W3, D3).
- West Ham have lost one of their last seven league visits to Villa (W3, D3, L1).
- Villa have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six home games against West Ham in all competitions.
- Unai Emery’s Villains have won just one of their last seven league games (W1, D2, L4).
- West Ham have lost just one of their last six league matches (W2, D3, L1).
Prediction
With two wins in their last 10 league matches, Villa really need to put together another clinical display akin to the performance which dispatched Lille on Thursday evening if they’re to go into the international break with renewed confidence in their top-four push.
West Ham though have strong away form at Villa Park in recent seasons and grinded out a deserved point at home to Man City with a resolute defensive performance, in which they took their chance clinically from a set piece but they will need to bring more attack in a likely open game.
My instinct is that this could be a scrappy game but entertaining and a point apiece feels like a solid call.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham
Result: Aston Villa 2-0 West Ham