West Ham will look to end their woeful run of form in the league when they travel to Villa Park this Sunday to face Steven Gerrard’s struggling Aston Villa side.
Venue: Villa Park (Birmingham)
Key Statistics
Aston Villa have not kept a clean sheet in eight league games.
The hosts have won just three of their last 13 games (D3, L).
Steven Gerrard’s men are unbeaten in their last three home games (W1, D2).
West Ham have not failed to score in four successive Premier League games since a five-match run between September and October 2006.
The Hammers are winless in their last five league games.
They have also lost their last four EPL games, failing to score in their last three.
Head to head
Both teams have an identical record in this fixture with 13 wins apiece in 46 Premier League meetings
Latest performances in all competition
Aston Villa: W-L-W-L-W
West Ham: W-L-W-L-L
Aston Villa
Under-pressure boss Steven Gerrard will look to take home maximum points when his Aston Villa side welcomes his old nemesis, David Moyes, to Birmingham on Sunday.
The former Liverpool player has endured a torrid start to the season as he has guided Villa to just one win in their opening three games this season. That win came at home against an Everton side who are still struggling to find momentum on matchday two.
Last weekend, the hosts travelled to London to face Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace side, and despite taking the lead in the game through Ollie Watkins, they eventually succumbed to a 3-1 loss.
The result means that they have taken just three wins from their last 13 league games while their wait for a clean sheet continues into the ninth game.
Gerrard admitted after the game that he will be “losing sleep” over who to pick up front this weekend as he prepares to shake up his side. Having recorded a 4-1 win over Bolton in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup outing, they will fancy their chances of getting a morale-boosting win over the Hammers.
Possible Aston Villa starting line-up
Emi Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Lucas Digne; John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey, Boubacar Kamara; Ollie Watkins, Emi Buendia, Leon Bailey.
Injured: Diego Carlos
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
West Ham
While Aston Villa have at least earned three points this season, last season’s Europa League semi-finalists West Ham are in an even worse position with zero points and zero goals this season.
The visitors have endured a terrible start to their league campaign, having suffered three straight league losses against Manchester City (2-0), Nottingham Forest (1-0) and, most recently, Brighton (2-0). As a result, they come into this tie sitting at the bottom of the league table.
The loss against Brighton was also their fourth consecutive loss in the Premier League, having lost their last game of the previous season.
However, despite all their struggles in the domestic league, David Moyes’ side are flying in Europe having won the two legs of their UEFA Europa Conference League against Viborg by a 6-1 aggregate scoreline.
They will hope they can replicate that form in the league when they travel to Birmingham.
With pressure mounting on them from the fans, West Ham will be desperate to win this game and avoid the unwanted record of losing their opening four PL games for the first time since 2018/19.
Possible West Ham starting line-up
Lukasz Fabianski; Benjamin Johnson, Thilo Kehrer, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma, Jarrod Bowen; Michail Antonio.
Injured: Craig Dawson, Vladimir Coufal
Doubtful: Naif Aguerd
Suspended: None
Prediction
Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham
