The Hammers and The Villans clash this weekend at Villa Park. Both sides are not where they would like to be in the EPL table coming into this one. West Ham suffered their third loss on the bounce last week. They fell to high flying Brighton and Hove Albion at home in a worrying display last weekend. They were never seriously in the contest.
Additionally, they seemed toothless in the attack. Michail Antonio looks tired, a far cry from the player we saw in the first half of last season. New signing Gianluca Scamacca is still coming to grips with the English game. A goal for either striker this week would please David Moyes.
Steven Gerrard’s Villa side have splashed the cash in the transfer window thus far. And so far, they cannot be happy with the ROI. The Villans capitulated against Crystal Palace 3-1 last weekend, in a match I am sure they would have penciled in for a win.
It is still early days, so there’s plenty of time for both these sides to turn things around.
But they must start now.
West Ham at Aston Villa FYIs
Kick-off: Sunday, Aug 28, 5:30 pm local, Villa Park
West Ham Team News Material: Go Here
After Extra Time Podcast: Spotify Apple
Google Result Probability: Aston Villa victory 42% Draw 28% West Ham victory 30%
Starting XI Prediction
Lukasz Fabianski starts in the goalkeeper’s gloves. There is some pressure on the ‘Pole in the Goal’, with Alphonse Areola performing well in the Europa Conference League for West Ham.
The central defensive duo will comprise Kurt Zouma and Thilo Kehrer. The German international looks like a real player and I expect him to be the first choice when available this season. At right-back, Ben Johnson comes in for Vlad Coufal, who misses out because of concussion protocol. On the left, Aaron Cresswell starts.
Tomas Soucek has been in poor form, but I expect him to be given a chance to turn it around against Villa. Declan Rice plays alongside him. Pablo Fornals adds the attacking oomph for The Irons midfield.
In attack, I am going to Maxwel Cornet on the left, with Jarrod Bowen starting on the right. New striker Gianluca Scamacca starts.
Match Prediction
I think West Ham get their first points of the season here. Aston Villa has not impressed me at all, and I think the Hammers come back with their first point of the season. I don’t expect this to be a classic.
Bore draw 0-0
Stuart Kavanagh is a journalist currently residing in Broken Hill, Australia. He writes for the Barrier Truth newspaper, along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, He also co-hosts the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast and contributes at edgeofthecrowd.com when time permits.
Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.