Early West Ham team news v Aston Villa – Jarrod Bowen confirmed out
West Ham United manager David Moyes has confirmed that star attacker Jarrod Bowen will miss Sunday’s game against Aston Villa through injury.
The 25-year-old hobbled off in the early stages of the second half against Liverpool last weekend and missed the Irons’ trip to Sevilla in the Europa League last night.
Moyes has now confirmed in his press conference on Friday that the England hopeful would miss his second successive game this weekend against the Villains.
“We’re just recovering everybody so I couldn’t give you a complete answer,” Moyes said. “We seemed to come through Thursday’s game relatively unscathed.
“Regarding Jarrod, he’s not going to be available for the weekend.
“Declan did well for his first game back. It’s not unexpected that he plays at that level because he’s a very good player.”
Advantage Villa
Bowen’s absence was felt in Seville last night and it will be again against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.
There is something about him that no other Hammers player seems to be able to recreate on that right-hand side and when he isn’t there, it’s very noticeable.
West Ham and Villa are probably two evenly matched sides on paper with the Midlands club coming off the back of three consecutive wins and clean sheets.
Not having to defend against Bowen will be a huge relief to Lucas Digne, who is expected to play at left-back for Villa, and that might free him up to attack which is where he is at his best.
Whether Nikola Vlasic or Said Benrahma can fill the void left by Bowen is going to be the key to seeing if the Irons are able to deny Villa a fourth straight win and keep their own European challenge on course.
In other West Ham news, the club are keen to sign this in-demand striker in the summer who could be available for a cut-price.
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