WHZ View: Three things to look out for as West Ham face Aston Villa
West Ham will attempt to get back to winning ways on Wednesday evening when they travel to fellow high flyers Aston Villa.
The Hammers suffered their first defeat of 2021 on Sunday at the hands of Liverpool. The champions left east London 3-1 winners and David Moyes will be looking for a reaction from his players at Villa Park this week.
Our hosts are in a good run of form. They’re playing far better than some of their recent results suggest and will be looking to make it three wins in five this evening.
With that in mind, West Ham Zone have picked out three things to look our for when we face off at Villa Park.
1. Going through Grealish
To be expected really, Grealish has been one of the standout players in the league this season. The Villa captain has registered eight goals and six assists this campaign.
His goal against Burnley was his first in nine games. He hadn’t scored since, yes, you guessed it, West Ham in November. He’s bagged the last two times we’ve faced off.
Grealish is averaging 6.36 touches in the opposition penalty area per 90 minutes and winning 4.2 fouls per game [WyScout]. He’s in menacing form, managing a goal involvement in four of his last five matches.
2. Brilliant Bowen also in form
Bowen had a very good evening when the two sides met at the London Stadium. The winger assisted the first and scored the winner in our 2-1 victory.
He completed 100% of his dribbles and had a passing accuracy of 82%. The Englishman also made three interceptions in what was one of his best performances for the Hammers.
Having scored against West Brom and assisting against Palace, he’s also a man in good form. Starved of possession against Liverpool, he’ll be raring to get on the ball this evening and make us tick.
3. Lingard to make his debut
Loan signing Jesse Lingard hasn’t featured in the Premier League since scoring on the final day of last season.
The attacker is looking to get back into the England set-up ahead of the Euros this summer. Moyes may look to shake up the XI after Sunday’s defeat, so Lingard could potentially start this evening.
Lingard is keen to prove his doubters wrong, if given enough time tonight he could be a deciding factor at Villa Park.
In other West Ham news, these pundits have predicted the outcome to Aston Villa v West Ham.