Aston Villa Match Preview

It’s a big week for West Ham United with three games in the space of six days and after losing to Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend, they will be looking to lift themselves off the bottom of the Premier League table and victory at Aston Villa this afternoon will be a good start.

The Hammers have had a decent record at Villa Park in recent seasons and they will be keen for that form to continue.

This may present the visitors with a chance to achieve their first win of the season, as the Villains have not been in great form themselves. Having said that, they did beat Everton 2-1 in their only game in front of their own fans so far this campaign.

Both teams also enjoyed success in midweek, with the East Londoners finishing the job off in Denmark to progress to the UEFA Europa Conference League group stages, while Steven Gerard’s men came from behind to beat Sky Bet League One side Bolton Wanderers 4-1.

It will be interesting to see who prevails here, as the hosts have had more time to prepare for this match, but that doesn’t always mean that they will get the result.

In the corresponding fixture last October, the home side were enduring a poor run of form under the stewardship of Dean Smith. However, a 4-1 triumph for the Irons meant it turned out to be his last home game in charge.

Thilo Kehrer was handed a debut against the Seagulls last weekend and another new face could go straight into the side this week, as defender Emmerson Palmieri completed his move to East London from Chelsea on Tuesday, whilst Vladimír Coufal is set for a return to the defence, after concussion kept him out of Thursday’s encounter.

Declan Rice will once again assume the Captain’s armband as he returns from his retrospective ban, which meant he missed the match three days ago.

If Moyes decides to play two upfront, then either Gianluca Scamacca, or Maxwel Cornet will partner Michail Antonio.

The match is a 2pm kick-off and the referee is David Coote.