Does the crisis continue for the ‘Hammers’?
Aston Villa get a visit from bottom of the table West Ham. The Londoners are the only team not to have scored a goal yet and have not scored at the same time. They will also be a little tired, having already been involved in Conference League qualifying this week.
The hosts are only slightly better with one win and two defeats so far, but will now be counting on the fact that their only success this season came against Everton on home soil. For the match between Aston Villa and West Ham, the forecast includes another home triumph.
Aston Villa – Statistics & current form
The club from Birmingham cannot look forward to the upcoming task from a statistical point of view: The home side have only won one of their last twelve Premier League encounters with West Ham (1-5-6).
Furthermore, they have been waiting for their next win for eight matches, the last one being in May 2015. The upcoming match is also historic for the home side: It will be their 1,000th Premier League appearance. Only eight other clubs have reached such a number before.
However, their tally of 335 wins, 253 draws and 411 defeats represents the weakest ever record for a team with that number of Premier League games.
Ollie Watkins with a goal?
In the offensive, last season’s 14th placed team will now rely mainly on Ollie Watkins. The striker was involved in seven goals for the “Lions” in his last nine appearances in the league (4 goals & 3 assists).
In light of this, the odds on the 26-year-old scoring in the clash between Aston Villa and West Ham are equally attractive.
The “Claret & Blue Army”, like their opponents, have already had to play once this week. However, the match took place two days before the additional game of the upcoming opponent, which gave the home side more regeneration time.
Villa didn’t show any weakness in the EFL Cup
The match went down to the wire in the EFL Cup and ended in a 4-1 win for coach Steven Gerrard’s side against Bolton Wanderers from the third-tier League One.
Aston Villa’s likely line-up:
Martinez – Konsa – Cash – Mings – Digne – McGinn – Kamara – Ramsey – Watkins – Buendia – Bailey
Last matches played by Aston Villa:
Carabao Cup
24/08/2022 – Bolton 1 – 4 Aston Villa
Premier League
20/08/2022 – Crystal Palace 3 – 1 Aston Villa
13/08/2022 – Aston Villa 2 – 1 Everton
06/08/2022 – Bournemouth 2 – 0 Aston Villa
Club friendlies
30/07/2022 – Rennes 1 – 2 Aston Villa
West Ham – Statistics & current form
The seventh-placed team in the previous season has made a disastrous start to the new season, as described. The Londoners’ prolonged weakness away from home is not very encouraging.
Coach David Moyes’ side have lost seven of their last nine away games (1-1-7) in the Premier League.
If their zero points and goals tally continues after four rounds, West Ham will become only the fifth club in the history of the country’s top flight to have such a record.
So far, only Derby County (1899-1900), Stoke City (1906/07), Preston North End (1924/25) and Crystal Palace (2017/18) have done so.
Antonio with charge inhibition
Michail Antonio’s performances are the most disappointing at the moment for the three-time FA Cup winners, the last being 42 years ago.
The Jamaican striker has scored ten goals in each of the last three seasons, but has failed to score in the league so far this term.
Given the visitors’ very harmless attacking performances within the first three rounds of matches, betting on a home win to nil in the clash between Aston Villa and West Ham is also worth considering.
Predicted West Ham line-up:
Fabianski – Coufal – Zouma – Kehrer – Cresswell – Rice – Soucek – Fornals – Bowen – Benrahma – Antonio
Last matches played by West Ham:
European Conference League Qualification
25/08/2022 – Viborg 0 – 3 West Ham
Premier League
21/08/2022 – West Ham 0 – 2 Brighton
European Conference League Qualification
19/08/2022 – West Ham 3 – 1 Viborg
Premier League
14/08/2022 – Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 West Ham
07/08/2022 – West Ham 0 – 2 Manchester City
Aston Villa – West Ham Direct Comparison / H2H Record
West Ham have won their last four duels against Aston Villa. However, the visitors have only managed five wins in a row against one team three times in the Premier League.
They managed such a streak between 2006 and 2008 against Blackburn and between 2018 and 2020 against Southampton, as well as between 2019 and 2022 against Watford.
Aston Villa – West Ham Tip
For the match between Aston Villa and West Ham, the tip aims for a home win. The visitors have disappointed all along the line so far and are still the only team in the British top flight still waiting for their first point and goal!
They will also be at a physical disadvantage due to the extra game in Conference League qualifying against Viborg last Thursday night.
While the home side have not been consistently convincing so far this season, they did at least win their only home game against Everton. They also put in a convincing performance in the EFL Cup last Tuesday.
Admittedly, it was only against third division Bolton Wanderers, but the 4-1 win was still worthy of praise and the home side could certainly also draw confidence from this success.
