West Ham United will lock horns with Aston Villa at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon, hoping to pick up all three points on their home turf. The Hammers will be heading into the contest on the back of a narrow 1-0 loss to La Liga side Sevilla in the first leg of the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League, whereas the Villans recorded a 3-0 win against Leeds United on Thursday. Below is the West Ham United vs Aston Villa preview.
Team News
West Ham United
Jarrod Bowen, who picked up a knock during West Ham’s visit to Anfield last weekend, will not be involved in the weekend clash.
“We’ve got one or two knocks and niggles. Regarding Jarrod, he’s not going to be available for the game at the weekend. We’re hoping he can continue to make some improvement. He’s getting slightly better.” – David Moyes stated in his pre-match press conference.
“Of course, we’re going to feel Jarrod’s absence but in truth, we’ve only been missing him for one game. He got taken off against Liverpool with his injury so we’ve only really had him out for one game.”
However, Declan Rice, who returned to the starting XI against Sevilla in midweek, should be fit for the upcoming clash.
“Declan had a really bad virus over the weekend but I thought he did really well for us in his first game back. But it’s something that’s not unexpected, that he plays at that level because he’s a very good player.
“We’ve only just got ourselves back in and we’re checking how everybody is. So we can’t give a complete answer at this time, but we seemed to come through the Sevilla game relatively okay and mainly unscathed.”
Aston Villa
There is no news on the injury front for the visitors.
Talking Tactics
David Moyes will probably opt for the 4-2-3-1 formation with several tweaks from the last game. In defence, Lukasz Fabianski might get the nod over Alphonse Areola, whereas Said Benrahma looks likely to make his way back into the starting eleven.
The Scottish tactician will be looking to get his team back on the winning ways after three consecutive losses that significantly hurt their domestic as well as European ambitions. However, it would be interesting to see how effectively the Irons can make their chances count against the Villa defence that has kept three clean sheets in their last three league matches.
On the other hand, Steven Gerrard is set to continue with his preferred 4-3-3 formation as well, with minimum changes from the trip to Elland Road. Philippe Coutinho’s brilliant form in front of the goal might just tip the scale in the visitors’ favour.
Predicted Lineups
West Ham United: Fabianski; Cresswell, Dawson, Zouma, Johnson; Soucek, Rice; Benrahma, Lanzini, Fornals; Antonio
Aston Villa: Martinez; Digne, Mings, Chambers, Cash; Luiz, McGinn, Ramsey; Watkins, Ings, Coutinho
Prediction
West Ham United 1-2 Aston Villa.
