David Flower
Dailysports's expert
Aston Villa
West Ham
One of the matches of the 23rd round of the English Premier League will take place on Sunday at Villa Park, where Aston Villa will host West Ham. I suggest a bet on the outcome of this match with good chances of success.
Match preview
The Birmingham side have put together a solid unbeaten run in the last four Premier League rounds. At home, they drew with Brighton (2-2) and defeated Leicester (2-1). On the road, they also earned 4 points, winning against Everton (1-0) and drawing with Arsenal (2-2), coming from two goals down.
Under Unai Emery, Aston Villa has firmly settled in 8th place and is breathing down the necks of the European spots, trailing by just two points. It’s worth noting that the Villans have been delivering high-scoring games – at least three goals have been scored in six of their last seven Premier League matches. At home, Aston Villa is one of the strongest teams in the Premier League, with only one loss in 11 matches (6 wins).
On the other hand, West Ham lost to Crystal Palace (0-2) at home in the last round, despite the support of their fans. This was their third loss in the last four Premier League games, with their only victory in this stretch coming in a thrilling match against Fulham (3-2).
Currently, West Ham occupies 14th place in the table, maintaining a solid 10-point gap from the relegation zone. However, away games are clearly not the club's strong suit – in their last nine away matches, the Hammers have avoided defeat only three times (3 draws and 4 losses).
Probable lineups
- Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez – Jan Matsson, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings – Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara – Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, Leon Bailey – Ollie Watkins.
- West Ham: Lukasz Fabianski – Max Kilman, Aaron Cresswell, Konstantinos Mavropanos – Emerson Palmieri, Guido Rodriguez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Edson Alvarez – Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta – Mohammed Kudus.
Match facts and head-to-head
- In the first round, Aston Villa won away against West Ham (2-1).
- In the FA Cup, the Villans also secured a victory at home (2-1).
- The "Both teams to score" bet hit in the last five encounters between the teams.
Prediction
If Aston Villa aims to finish in the top 4, they need to maximize their points against teams from the lower half of the table. Notably, the Birmingham side has shown confident performances against such opponents – this season, they’ve played seven matches at home against teams from the lower half, winning five and drawing twice. Our bet is on "Aston Villa to win" at odds of 1.60.
