West Ham United will aim to build on a run of three Premier League home games without defeat when they host Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa will go in search of their third successive victory as they look to move into the top half of the Premier League table.
Survival at the London Stadium. ✅🔜 #WHUAVL pic.twitter.com/vCZOGnZHyj— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 8, 2023
Survival at the London Stadium. ✅🔜 #WHUAVL pic.twitter.com/vCZOGnZHyj
The Villains find themselves 11th in the standings, 11 points clear of the Hammers, who sit one point outside the relegation zone in 16th place.
West Ham head into Sunday’s showdown on the back of a 2-0 victory at AEK Larnaca in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Michail Antonio bagged a brace in Cyprus to hand his team a solid first-leg advantage in the round of 16, with second leg scheduled for next Thursday in London.
David Moyes’ side have taken seven points from their last three home league games, beating Everton (2-0) and Nottingham Forest (4-0) while drawing with Chelsea (1-1).
Although West Ham have managed to win just six of their 25 league outings this season – recording five draws and 14 losses – they will fancy their chances of frustrating Aston Villa.
As for the Villains, they claimed a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace last weekend, picking up their second consecutive win following a 2-0 triumph at Everton.
Not only have Villa won each of their last two league games, but they have also won four of their previous seven, with eight victories coming in their past 14 league outings.
It is worth noting that Unai Emery’s men have scored at least one goal in each of their last 14 encounters across all competitions.
That said, they are conceding at a rate of 1.71 goals per game on their travels this season, so they are likely to both score and concede on Sunday.
Head-to-head: West Ham are currently enjoying a nine-game unbeaten run in this fixture, having claimed six wins and three draws since their last loss against Aston Villa.
Having won each of their last five Premier League matches against the Villains, the Hammers are well placed to triumph this weekend.
Team news: With Lukasz Fabianski sidelined due to a fracture cheekbone, Alphonse Areola will continue to deputise between the sticks for West Ham. There are also question marks over Vladimir Coufal.
On the flip side, Aston Villa have five players out through injury at the moment – Philippe Coutinho, Diego Carlos, Leander Dendoncker, Boubacar Kamara and Jed Steer.
There is no hiding that fact that West Ham are enduring a poor season, but they can take confidence from their recent home form.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that West Ham will extend their winning streak against Aston Villa, with the hosts scoring over 1.5 goals en route to victory.