The Premier League heads into the international break with one match on Sunday and it is a big one in the race for European football next season as West Ham United play host to Aston Villa, two sides who are in the last eight of European competition this term.
West Ham have a date with Bayer Leverkusen to enjoy next month while Villa will go up against Lille in the Europa Conference League but it is the bid to get back into Europe next season which gets the attention here. There is no UK TV coverage of this game.
West Ham United
West Ham haven’t had the best time of it in 2024 but they have looked like they have started to turn things around in recent times. They had that excellent win over Brentford a couple of weeks ago and followed it up with a late one at Everton before another late salvage mission against Burnley last weekend. In and around all of that they turned a deficit in their Europa League tie against Freiburg around emphatically in midweek so the Hammers are slowly getting back into a nice groove.
That has certainly eased some of the pressure on David Moyes and a win here will move them back to within a point of the top six which would give them two ways of getting back into Europe next season. The big thing for West Ham is they are scoring goals again. They went a bit quiet for goals when they had their injuries in January but as their key players have come back the goals have begun to flow once again.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa have had an excellent season, one which has seen them up to fourth in the table and they have already watched on as Tottenham Hotspur missed out on the chance to overtake them in the race for the top four on Saturday afternoon. That means that should Villa win this game they will reopen a five point advantage in the race for the top four and undo the damage which was done when they were thrashed by Tottenham last weekend.
To their credit, Aston Villa already bounced back from that thumping by doing a similar job on Ajax in the Europa Conference League in midweek so the Villans should be confident heading to the capital. One area of concern is that they are not as good on their travels as they are at home. Only seven of their 17 wins have come away from home, although they have won the last three, but the last of those wins was after throwing a 2-0 lead away at Luton before scoring a late winner.
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Team News
West Ham United are going to assess the chances of Emerson Palmieri featuring in this match after he has missed the last two matches with a groin injury. One man who definitely isn’t available is Maxwel Cornet who has a hamstring issue.
Aston Villa are sweating over the fitness of Ollie Watkins after he went off with a cut in the demolition of Ajax on Thursday night. Diego Carlos also suffered an injury in that game and could miss out while John McGinn begins a suspension.
Betting
I think West Ham United might be getting Aston Villa at a good time here. Not only are West Ham suddenly looking in good form again but they have the majority of their best squad to choose from whereas Villa have just thrown in a couple of shockers from nowhere over the last month or so and are beginning to miss one or two players they would rather have. I’m never as convinced on the Villans away from home anyway but if Ollie Watkins doesn’t play you have to favour West Ham here.
Villa are already going to be impacted in midfield. I’ve written recently how Boubacar Kamara has been a big loss to their midfield and now it will be without another mainstay in that area of the pitch in John McGinn and there is a real drop off to the likes of Zaniolo and Iroegbunam whereas West Ham now have Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus back into full swing. Throw in the home advantage and if there is a winner I fancy it could be the home side. I’ll play them without the draw in play.
Tips
Back West Ham United (0AH) to beat Aston Villa for a 3/10 stake at 2.08 with Bet365
