Sky Sports journalist makes ‘derailing’ West Ham United prediction v Aston Villa
West Ham are “capable of derailing” Aston Villa in their upcoming clash, according to Sky Sports journalist Ben Grounds.
The Hammers travel to Villa Park on Sunday (22 October) to take on Unai Emery’s outfit in a Premier League encounter.
The home side currently sit fifth in the Premier League table, two points and two places ahead of David Moyes’ outfit.
“Having negotiated challenging opening fixtures, winning away at Chelsea and Burnley, Unai Emery’s side will now look to capitalise on a favourable run of matches,” Grounds wrote for Sky Sports.
“What is more, Villa have won 10 consecutive Premier League matches at Villa Park and three of their next four fixtures are at home.
“That said, West Ham are capable of derailing them upon the restart given their counter-attacking qualities and Emery’s preference of a high defensive line.”
Intriguing clash
Both West Ham and Aston Villa have started the new Premier League campaign well, with their managers utilising very different tactics to pick up points. Both sides have conceded 12 goals from their eight matches so far, with Villa outscoring the Hammers by four goals.
The hosts will be confident of picking up a positive result in front of their home supporters, but as shown already this season, the Hammers are no pushovers against the top teams.
They did lose out to both Manchester City and Liverpool, but Moyes masterminded impressive wins against Brighton and Chelsea, as well as a draw against Newcastle United.
Given that it is the first game back for the two clubs after the recent international break, fatigue and injuries could be the difference between winning and losing.
Both managers may also have one eye on their respective European commitments later in the week, with Villa playing in the Europa Conference League and West Ham playing in the Europa League.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are in the hunt to sign one Bundesliga ace, with £35million needed to seal the transfer.