West Ham United and Aston Villa have finished last season just two points apart but the new campaign brought totally different perspectives for the two clubs. Aston Villa had the better start and they had seven points more than West Ham after four games. But then they were unable to pick up any other points since then, while the Hammers lost just one of the following seven matches.
Sam Allardyce's side are now fifth in the table after 10 games. Paul Lambert's men have scored just once in six games, all lost, and they dropped to 16th place in the league table. Last weekend they were defeated by Tottenham even though they had the lead until two late goals from Spurs. Striker Christian Benteke was sent off during the match and now faces a three-game ban.
Gabriel Agbonlahor is likely to be fielded as central striker instead of Benteke, even if he is goalless in six matches. Alan Hutton and Philippe Senderos are still out through injures, along with Fabian Delph. West Ham can count on Diafra Sakho again in attack after he has missed out on the 2-2 draw with Stoke last weekend.
Probable starting line-ups:
West Ham: Adrian - Jenkinson, Reid, Collins, Cresswell - Song, Noble, Amalfitano, Downing - Valencia, Sakho
Villa: Guzan - Lowton, Vlaar, Baker, Cissokho - Sanchez, Westwood, Cleverley - N'Zogbia, Weimann, Agbonlahor
My prediction: West Ham to win 2-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
West Ham win - 3/4 Draw - 11/4 Aston Villa win - 9/2
galata86 9 years ago
@schuber26 I didn't expect a lot of goals. If you look better aston vila and west ham aren't teams who score a lot of goals and I didn't expect match without goals but I didn't expect more than one or two. Aston vila have a lot problems with scoring this year, I think that they score only 4 times and if they don't do something...
@schuber26 I didn't expect a lot of goals. If you look better aston vila and west ham aren't teams who score a lot of goals and I didn't expect match without goals but I didn't expect more than one or two. Aston vila have a lot problems with scoring this year, I think that they score only 4 times and if they don't do something about that they are in big trouble
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schuber26 9 years ago
Wow, I thought that in this match will be at least 4 goals and a West Ham glory. But no.. There wasn't a goal unfortunately. West Ham was better in shooting on goal, in passing and in possession too. West Ham has two qualitative attackers by name Sakho and Valencia but today the fortune wasn't with them. No problem for...
Wow, I thought that in this match will be at least 4 goals and a West Ham glory. But no.. There wasn't a goal unfortunately. West Ham was better in shooting on goal, in passing and in possession too. West Ham has two qualitative attackers by name Sakho and Valencia but today the fortune wasn't with them. No problem for West Ham they are in prestigious position they should be in the 6-7th position in the end of the year.
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Tomas.White 9 years ago
Only draw. I expected much more from this game. West Ham is playing very good at Boleyn Ground, and it is really surprising that they did not win this game. They had much more opportunities and bigger ball possession. Aston Villa is in the danger zone and they did not win for almost two months. I was shore that The Hammers...
Only draw. I expected much more from this game. West Ham is playing very good at Boleyn Ground, and it is really surprising that they did not win this game. They had much more opportunities and bigger ball possession. Aston Villa is in the danger zone and they did not win for almost two months. I was shore that The Hammers will win this.
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mitarbp 9 years ago
I hope that West Ham win, because Aston Villa in a series of poor results. Aston Villa has three successive away defeats. Although they need a win to keep themselves out of the relegation zone. West Ham as the host in good shape and I hope that they will continue a series of consecutive victories. I think it will be over...
I hope that West Ham win, because Aston Villa in a series of poor results. Aston Villa has three successive away defeats. Although they need a win to keep themselves out of the relegation zone. West Ham as the host in good shape and I hope that they will continue a series of consecutive victories. I think it will be over three goals, but that Aston Villa could not score.
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Shumar4life
9 years ago
West Hame plays very good matches at home turf, and Villa has huge problems this season. They are in bad form, and unexpectedly they will fight against relegation this season. West Ham has also problems but today they are playing at the home, and they are favorites on this match
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