Aston Villa vs West Ham: Betting Preview With Team News And Prediction

Premier League football returns after the international break and West Ham return to action with a tough trip to Villa Park to face Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

The Hammers have enjoyed a solid start to the 2023/24 campaign having won four and lost just two of their eight Premier League games so far. A 3-1 victory over Chelsea has been a particular highlight while David Moyes’ men have also picked up impressive wins over Brighton, Luton and Sheffield
United.

A very respectable 2-2 draw at home to Newcastle United before the break has left West Ham sitting 7th in the division. After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, Hammers fans should be pleased with how the club have performed so far but they are in for a stern test at Villa Park this weekend.

The Villains have continued their excellent form since Unai Emery arrived earlier in the year having won five of their eight league games this season. Everton, Burnley, Palace, Chelsea and Brighton have all been put to the sword by Villa, so West Ham will know this is going to be a tough match. A 1-1 draw away to Wolves before the international break left Emery frustrated as the hosts played much of the game with 10-men. But Villa are still sitting fifth in the table and are just four points off the top, so they are well positioned to make a charge for European qualification this season.

Team news

Moyes will check on the condition of Edson Alvarez and Michail Antonio after their long-haul excursions with Mexico and Jamaica during the break but they’re expected to be available for selection. Lukasz Fabianski should return to the squad from a knock but Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell are
doubts with groin and hamstring injuries respectively.

As for Villa, they’ll continue to be without Emi Buendia due to a long-term knee injury while Tyrone Mings is also out with an ACL injury. Jacob Ramsey is still recovering from an ankle issue while Alex Moreno is out with a thigh problem.

Betting Odds

Looking at the betting markets for this game shows us that Aston Villa are favourites to collect all three points. The Villains are 4/5 at Winfair24.org to win on Sunday whereas West Ham are priced as the 13/5 outsiders to claim victory at Villa Park. The draw is 21/10 for those who think the points will be shared.
Both teams have been finding the back of the net on a regular basis with Villa scoring 19 goals in their eight games, while West Ham have managed 15. Therefore, we should expect plenty of goalmouth action on Sunday and both teams to score looks like a good bet at odds of 1/2. Over 2.5 match goals also looks tempting at 4/7, and some may even fancy their luck backing over 3.5 goals at 6/4.

It will be difficult for West Ham to claim victory in this game as Villa are a top side in good form. However, we predict the Hammers to take a point back to London. A 2-2 draw at odds of 10/1 could be worth a punt. The first goalscorer market is also interesting. Villa striker Ollie Watkins has been in terrific form
lately and he’s the 4/1 favourite to open the scoring on Sunday. However, Danny Ings could be the dark horse at odds of 17/2. The chances are Villa will score first and Watkins is a good shout. If we back the England striker to open the scoring in a 2-2 draw, we can get excellent odds of 67/1.

Of course the result will also depend on which team turns up and which team is suffering the smallest International break hangover! -ED