Aston Villa vs. West Ham: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Villa are very strong on home soil, with Unai Emery's side losing only once (a 0-2 defeat to Arsenal) at Villa Park all season. With West Ham having lost four of their last five, one of which was a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa at Villa Park, it's very hard to imagine them coming out with a win here, especially with their injury issues.

Both teams to score has occurred in four of Aston Villa's last five home games in the league and three of West Ham's last five on the road, so both teams to score is definitely on the cards, but the home side should come out of this one with three points. Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham.

Aston Villa vs. West Ham - or the “David Cameron Derby”, as some now jokingly refer to it - takes place at Villa Park this weekend, with both sides in need of a win.

• Date: 26/01/2025
• Kick-off time: 16:30
• Location: Villa Park, Birmingham

Aston Villa come into this game 8th in the Premier League table with 36 points from 22 games. The Midlands-based club are trying to mount another top four charge after last season's historic (in recent terms) campaign. Villa are four points shy of the top four, so they're in a good position, but they're battling amongst a crop of very handy teams in what (right now) looks like a six-horse race for 3rd and 4th.

Villa finished 4th last season, and while this campaign has been another solid one, they've definitely been short of the standard they set last year. At this stage last season, Villa were seven points better off than they are currently, and while injuries have played some part in their decline, they also spent a hefty sum to strengthen their squad in the summer, so it's likely that they're struggling with the added demands of Champions League football.

To further their cause this season, Villa recently signed Dutch forward Donyell Malen for a reported fee of £21m from Borussia Dortmund. The hope is that Malen will bring added firepower to the Villa attack, and after bagging 13 goals in the Bundesliga last season, it's fair to expect him to provide a decent contribution this season.

Villa are currently on a good run in the Premier League so they'll feel confident about beating a West Ham side they downed in the FA Cup only two weeks ago, and if other results go their way, they could find themselves very close to the top four come Sunday night.

West Ham are currently 14th in the Premier League with 26 points from 22 games. This season has not gone to plan at all for the Hammers, who after a summer of wholesale personnel change, have gone in the opposite direction to what they'd hoped.

A desperately poor first half of their campaign led to manager Julen Lopetegui being removed from his post, who was then replaced by former Brighton and Chelsea manager Graham Potter. Since his arrival, Potter has had a mixed start in terms of performances, and he comes into this game with a lot to prove to a largely sceptical fan base.

Potter is in a tough situation because he's unable to call upon any of West Ham's first-choice strikers, with Michail Antonio, Niclas Fülkrug and Jarrod Bowen all out injured. On top of that, he has to find a way to shore up a defence that's conceded 43 goals in the league, while also making sure the team - that's scored just 27 times - can offer up enough attacking threat, without any of the aforementioned trio. Not an easy job, then.

Potter needs to pick up some good results early doors to make sure the mood around the club lifts, because a sustained run of poor form could be hard to bounce back from. West Ham lost 2-1 at this venue only a couple of weeks ago, so they'll be well aware of how tough this game will be, and it's hard to make a case for them coming out of this one on top.

This game will be televised live to all subscribed UK viewers on Sky Sports Main Event.

Aston Villa Team News:

Villa are still missing a number of key players as they come into this game without Amadou Onana, John McGinn, Ross Barkley and Pau Torres.

New signing Donyell Malen could be in line for his first start this weekend, as Unai Emery looks for an added source of goals.

Predicted lineup: Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Tielemans; Malen, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins.

West Ham Team News:

The Hammers' injury list is even more significant than that of their opponents, with Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen, Niclas Füllkrug, Crysencio Summerville and Jean-Clair Todibo all in the treatment room.

West Ham will also be without centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos, who is unavailable through suspension.

Predicted lineup: Fabiański; Coufal, Kilman, Cresswell; Wan-Bissaka, Álvarez, Soler, Emerson; Paquetá, Kudus; Ings.

Aston Villa:

Aston Villa are in good form, as they come into this one with three wins, one draw and one defeat from their last five games. Last time out, Villa succumbed to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Monaco in the Champions League, a result that followed a 2-2 draw away at Arsenal, where goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins saw them come back from 2-0 down.

Before that, a goal from Ollie Watkins saw them beat Everton 1-0, which came after a 2-1 win over West Ham in the FA Cup thanks to goals from Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers.

Those results followed a 2-1 win over Leicester City, courtesy of goals from Ross Barkley and Leon Bailey.

West Ham:

West Ham enter this game having won one and lost four of their last five games. Last weekend, a desperately poor showing saw them fall to a 0-2 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, which was preceded by a 3-2 win over Fulham, where the goals came from Carlos Soler, Tomáš Souček and Lucas Paquetá.

Those results were preceded by a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Manchester City and a 0-5 stuffing by Liverpool.

• Latest match predictions
• Football tips
• Football accumulator tips
• Football bet of the day