West Ham continue their battle to beat the drop as they host Aston Villa in a Premier League fixture on Sunday.
The Hammers are coming off a 2-0 victory at AEK Larnaca in their Europa League round of 16 first leg clash. They were comfortable for much of the encounter with a first half brace from Michail Antonio enough to give them the win.
It was a good way to bounce back from the 4-0 defeat at Brighton in their previous Premier League fixture. Sitting 16th on the table, just one point above the bottom three, David Moyes’ men will be looking to build on Thursday result in their bid to beat the drop.
Another positive for West Ham ahead of Sunday’s clash is their recent record at the London Stadium. The Hammers are unbeaten in their last three home matches with a 2-0 win over Everton and a 4-0 victory over Nottingham Forest among their results in that run.
While West Ham are fighting to beat the drop, Aston Villa have a different battle slightly further up the table. Sitting 11th on the standings, a finish in the European places might be out of reach, so a place in the top half looks to be the target at the moment.
Following a run of three straight defeats, Aston Villa travel to the London Stadium off the back of wins in their last two Premier League matches. First, they triumphed 2-0 at Everton before claiming a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace in their previous fixture.
The win at Everton continues a fine record for Aston Villa on their recent travels. Unai Emery’s men have won four of their last five Premier League away matches, with victories over Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur among their results in that run.
How the bookies view it
West Ham have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at 24/19 by SBK. A victory for Aston Villa is valued at 23/10 by William Hill while BoyleSports is offering odds of 12/5 for a draw.
Recent head to head
West Ham often do well in this fixture having won the last five matches with Aston Villa. The Hammers claimed a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in August and also picked up a 2-1 win in the last meeting at the London Stadium.
Players to watch
West Ham are likely to make changes to their team with Danny Ings expected to return to the starting line-up after sitting out the win at Larnaca. The striker netted a brace in the win over Nottingham Forest and is priced at 5/2 to get one over his former team.
Ollie Watkins has impressed for Aston Villa in recent weeks and will be the one to watch on Sunday. The striker has found the net five times in his last six matches and is priced at 11/4 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
West Ham and Aston Villa have shown some attacking quality in recent weeks and both teams can be backed to score at 9/10 with Unibet. There were over 2.5 goals in the last meeting at the London Stadium and a repeat is priced at 11/10 with SBK while bet365 is offering odds of 5/2 for over 3.5 goals.
The Hammers have opened the scoring in the last five meetings with Aston Villa and can be backed to grab the first goal on Sunday at 17/20 with 10bet.
This English Premier League match between West Ham and Aston Villa will be played on Mar 12, 2023 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best West Ham vs Aston Villa prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
