Premier League: Villa can win this Battle of the Clarets

West Ham United vs Aston Villa

18^th plays third at the London Stadium on Sunday when Premier League: West Ham United vs Aston Villa kicks off in a mouth-watering top flight clash. 

The Hammers have already changed their manager this season, drafting in Nuno Espirito Santo after potting Graham Potter and the East End club has stabilised, picking points up regularly and staying in touch with the safety zone with back-to-back away draws. Now they return home to a task probably tougher than Manchester United and Brighton and Hove Albion. 

Aston Villa blew the Premier League title race wide open last week when they beat leaders Arsenal 2-1 and, after a slow start to the campaign they have rocketed up the table into third place as well as thriving in Europe too. A Thursday victory away to Basel in the Europa League lifted the Villans to third in that competition too, and the pre-match West Ham United vs Aston Villa betting odds say Unai Emery’s team can continue their winning run on Sunday.  

 

Talking Points 

Nuno’s philosophy is good for the Hammers 

13 points from 15 league games represents West Ham’s worst league start since 2017/18, but things are looking a lot brighter now than when Nuno took over the reigns over two months ago. 

Hammers fans like to talk about the ‘West Ham way’ but while supporters love to see free-flowing football that doesn’t always win games, particularly in a league which boasts many of the best footballers on the planet. Managers up and down the league are being more pragmatic and the long throw has come back into vogue. So Nuno’s philosophy of fielding a well drilled team with defensive structure and quick counter attacking intent has a growing number of admirers. 

The 1-1 draw with Brighton could easily have been a win were it not for Georginio Rutter’s injury time leveller and, while the Seagulls had 68 per cent possession and rained 22 shots down on the Hammers’ goal, Jarrod Bowen had already been denied by two superb saves from the Brighton stopper before he broke the deadlock with a clever finish on 73 minutes. West Ham have relied too heavily on their skipper for a goal threat over the past couple of seasons, but a return from suspension for Lucas Paqueta has taken some of the pressure off Bowen and he too can win a game with a moment of magic. 

Another fans’ favourite is £40m signing Matheus Fernandes who has shone in a midfield role with his pressing, tackling and defensive nous, as well as his ability to launch attacks. The Portuguese star is the perfect Nuno player.             

 

Emery is keeping his players grounded

He has an impressive managerial record behind him at Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain, and Emery is doing a fine job at Villa Park; he was one of my SBOTOP picks of the best coaches in the league last week and he outlined just why by the way he masterminded a victory over the league’s runaway leaders. Emery praised the Villa supporters after the game and his opposite number, Mikel Arteta, suggested the Midlanders are genuine title contenders. But Emery was quick to calm things down, saying: “I am not thinking of it. I know 38 matches is very difficult. We are not a contender. If we were in the day 35, perhaps we can speak differently.”

Well, we are approaching the half way mark and Villa have been the best side over the past few weeks, but Emery will play it week by week. He has not put pressure on star striker Ollie Watkins, who is yet to reach the heights of last season, and if his centre forward starts to strike then the wins will surely keep on coming. In the meantime, with the likes of Morgan Rogers, Donyell Malen and Emiliano Buendia in the attacking group the responsibility is shared around, while wingback Matty Cash is always good for a goal, as he proved against the Gunners.            

 

History

The head to head West Ham United vs Aston Villa results have thrown out an unusual number of draws with 23 from the last 50 encounters while Villa are edging the wins with 15 victories to five.  

Villa are unbeaten in their last five meetings with the Hammers, winning 2-1 on their last visit to the London Stadium as Jhon Duran scored a late winner after Paqueta had levelled for the Hammers. 

In terms of recent form the Hammers have won two, drawn three and lost one of the last six while Villa have won all six.

 

Betting Tip

The Hammers are well in this game at odds of 3.60 to win, with the draw at 3.40. But the London Stadium is a tough place to play; the home fans can get restless and I think a repeat of last season’s 2-1 to Villa, at odds of 7.95, is on the cards.  

   

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