David Moyes’ West Ham take on Unai Emery’s high-flying Aston Villa in the Premier League at the London Stadium on Sunday, March 17, 2024. The Irons will look for revenge after losing 4-1 to this opposition in October. Kick-off is at 2:00 P.M. Last Word on Football brings you a West Ham predicted lineup.
West Ham Predicted lineup vs Aston Villa
How West Ham Have Lined up Recently
Moyes has consistently opted to play a 4-2-3-1 this season. Alphonse Areola has been the first first-choice goalkeeper this season, reducing Lukasz Fabianski to the bench. Areola was pivotal in West Ham’s away win against Everton, saving Beto’s penalty and saving nine shots in the match. Fabianski started midweek against Freiburg, in a 1-0 defeat. His last game came in away to Manchester United, in which he was subbed on at halftime due to injury.
The back four usually consists of Emerson, Kurt Zouma, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Vladimir Coufal. Yet, in their most recent league match, Aaron Cresswell replaced Emerson and Nayef Aguerd started his first game in two weeks, replacing Zouma. Edson Alvarez has started every game in midfield since the start of February except for the most recent league game next to Tomas Soucek. James Ward-Prowse is a constant in the midfield alongside Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paquetá.
Jarrod Bowen is Moyes’s current option to play striker. He scored a hattrick against Brentford in February in a 4-2 win. He has scored 14 goals this season in the league, yet only three so far this year. Bowen has also started every game this term, playing every minute for the Irons in 2024.
West Ham’s recent form
West Ham, who sit 7th currently, has been on an inconsistent run of form recently. After a 6-0 defeat to Arsenal and a 2-0 defeat away to struggling Nottingham Forest, they won against Brentford and Everton in the league. This recent winning form wasn’t to be replicated in Europe, losing to Freiburg 1-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 matchup. In their most recent Premier League game, the Hammers drew 2-2 to 19th-place Burnley, coming back from behind to draw level. They last played on Thursday, beating Freiburg 5-0 (5-1 on aggregate) to advance to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
The Hammers currently ranks 9th in the league in goals scored per match, averaging 1.6 this season. This is worse than their opponents, who average 5th with an average of 2.1 strikes per game. The Irons have struggled defensively, failing to keep a clean sheet in 11 matches. Yet, Villa have also failed to score in either of their last two games. This may give the Irons some confidence, but the Villains are unbeaten in 7 away games. Yet, the last time Villa won away to West Ham came in a 2-1 win in April 2011.
Injuries to consider
Unlike Emery’s Villa who have five injuries to worry about, the Irons only have two. Emerson has a thigh injury and is doubtful to play in the game. He played 68 minutes in West Ham’s Europa League defeat to Freiburg. Maxwel Cornet is also out due to injury and is expected to return at the end of the month. He last played for the Irons against Nottingham Forest, in which he played 14 minute
West Ham Predicted Lineup vs Aston Villa
Areola;
Coufal, Mavropanos, Aguard, Cresswell;
Soucek, Phillips;
Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta;
Bowen
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