Aston Villa vs West Ham predictions: Exciting encounter on the cards at Villa Park
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- Aston Villa have won the last two meetings against West Ham 2-1
- Ten points separate the two teams in the Premier League table
- Recommended bet: Both teams to score
Graham Potter's first game in charge of West Ham saw his side beaten 2-1 at Aston Villa in the FA Cup and the Hammers boss will be looking to exact revenge on Sunday.
The hosts saw a five-game unbeaten run snapped when putting in a poor showing and losing 1-0 at Monaco on Tuesday, but there is every chance they can bounce back against West Ham, who are winless in five meetings with the Villans.
However, that is not to say the Hammers cannot play their part at Villa Park, as they demonstrated their threat going forward when beating Fulham 3-2 last week, suggesting Sunday’s clash could be a scintillating spectacle.
Team news
Pau Torres and Ross Barkley are still some way off a return for Villa but there is a chance that captain John McGinn could feature, with Amadou Onana also requiring a late fitness test.
Jhon Duran, subject to a £57 million bid from West Ham on Monday, netted the winner in the reverse fixture and will be pushing to start ahead of Ollie Watkins.
The Hammers’ attacking options are far slimmer than their hosts, with Jarrod Bowen, Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio all sidelined and Crysencio Summerville a doubt.
There are issues in defence for the visitors, too, as Jean-Clair Todibo is injured and Konstantinos Mavropanos is suspended.
The stats
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Both teams have scored in 10 of the last 11 meetings between the pair and the same bet has landed in the last five head-to-heads.
Villa went five games without defeat before a 1-0 loss to Monaco on Tuesday, while West Ham have lost four of their last five games, conceding 15 goals in that run.
The Villans are unbeaten in their last eight home matches, winning five of those.
Prediction
Given they are 10 points better off than West Ham, it is no surprise that Villa come into this clash as strong favourites.
However, the Villans were poor in the week against an out-of-form Monaco, losing the shot count 12-10 as they were defeated 1-0 and backing them at such a short price could be risky.
The Hammers were poor last time themselves, losing 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace, but they offered a real threat going forward when beating Fulham 3-2 prior to that and were also the better team for 45 minutes in Potter’s debut at Villa Park in the FA Cup.
Villa eventually prevailed 2-1 in that clash, just as they did in the reverse fixture and there is a good chance that we will see goals at both ends when the two meet again on Sunday.
Both teams have scored in 10 of the latest 11 meetings between this usually well-matched pair, including each of the last five.
With seven of Villa’s last 10 and eight of West Ham’s last 11 games seeing the same bet land, it could pay to stick with the same selection this weekend.
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