BOTH West Ham United and Aston Villa will be bidding to get back to winning ways in the Premier League when the pair lock horns at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
After picking up impressive league wins against both Brentford and Everton, West Ham’s mini-revival was stalled when drawing 2-2 with basement boys Burnley last weekend.
However, David Moyes’ men have since dished out a 5-0 thumping to Freiburg in the Europa League, on an evening where both of my recommended bets landed at the London Stadium.
The Hammers faithful will be hoping that emphatic viceroy will act as a springboard for further success when Aston Villa come to town.
The Villians also return to domestic action off the back of a dominant win in Europe on Thursday, having swept aside Ajax 4-0 in their Europa Conference League round of 16 second leg tie.
With top four rivals Tottenham – who thrashed Villa 4-0 last weekend – in action at Fulham on Saturday, Unai Emery’s side will look to fulfil their end of the bargain by earning all three points in East London.
Outright Betting
Last season’s corresponding fixture ended all square and the same outcome on Sunday can be backed at 11/4 (William Hill) while a West Ham success has been priced up at 7/4 (UniBet).
Aston Villa are 6/4 favourites on Boylesports to bag what would be a fourth Premier League away win in succession.
Betting Angles
A case could be made for all three outcomes here, but team news permitting, I’m going to opt for a player-based selection and back Ollie Watkins to Score or Assist at 11/10 on PaddyPower.
Only Erling Haaland has scored more Premier League goals than Villa hitman Watkins this season, who will have his eye on the Golden Boot given that he trails Man City goal-machine by just two strikes.
What's more, not only did Watkins notch against Ajax last time out, but he has also banged in five goals across his last four Premier League outings.
That doesn’t augur well for a West Ham side who have not exactly been renowned for keeping the back door shut throughout the campaign.
In fact, David Moyes’ men have posted just five clean sheets in 28 Premier League outings this season so far, shipping at least one goal in each of their last 10 domestic outings.
With all that in mind, backing the aforementioned Ollie Watkins to either score or provide an assist against the Hammers on Sunday stands out at 11/10 on PaddyPower.
Switching attention to the other end of the park, the 4/5 on offer with PaddyPower for West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus to register a shot on target also looks worthy of interest.
This bet would have paid out in seven of Kudus’ last eight outings for the Hammers, so the 4/5 about a repeat on Sunday represents a nice slice of value in what should be an action-packed encounter the capital.
This English Premier League match between West Ham United and Aston Villa will be played on Mar 17, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best West Ham United vs Aston Villa prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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