WHZ View: West Ham looking to bounce back – Predicted XI to face Villa
West Ham face fellow high flyers Aston Villa on Wednesday evening after suffering their first defeat of 2021 on the weekend.
The Hammers travel to Villa Park in what will be a big game for both clubs with European football aspirations.
After a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool David Moyes will be looking for a reaction from his players. Victory for the hosts would see them leapfrog us on goal difference.
A win will take us to 38 points after 22 matches played, just a point less than we managed after 38 games last season.
Moyes has turned us from relegation struggles to European dark horses and deserves immense credit.
Ahead of the clash tomorrow, West Ham Zone expects the Scot to name the following team to take on Villa:
Lukasz Fabianski will start in goal on his 265th Premier League appearance. The Pole will be looking to keep a clean sheet after conceding five goals in his last two games.
The back-four will remain unchanged. Craig Dawson now has two in two games, and will partner Angelo Ogbonna at the back.
Aaron Cresswell continued his remarkable season against Liverpool by getting his sixth assist. He’ll play left-back and will be hungry to create more goals. Vladimir Coufal will be given the task of marking Jack Grealish at right-back.
Declan Rice captain’s the side in central midfield. The England international had a rare off-day against Liverpool but will be raring to make amends against Villa.
He’ll start alongside Tomas Soucek. Our top goalscorer will be looking to improve on his seven Premier League goals thus far this campaign.
Ahead of those two will be our attacking trio of Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals. Bowen scored the winner when the sides met in November, assisted by second-half substitute Benrahma.
Leading the line will be Michail Antonio. He’s another who had an off day against the Reds, and will be looking to break his duck of two games without a goal.
In other West Ham news, Winston Reid has joined this Championship club on loan for the remainder of the season.