Aston Villa v West Ham 26th January: Premier League Preview
A second meeting in 16 days for Aston Villa and West Ham as both fight for three points at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon between the two claret and blue sides in the Premier League.
Unai Emery’s Villa were defeated in midweek by Monaco in the Champions League, but in the league, they overturned a two-goal deficit to hold the Gunners to a point, courtesy of Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins.
They are currently embarking on a four-game unbeaten league run. The Hammers, under the leadership of Graham Potter look to return to winning ways after a mixed start to the former Brighton and Chelsea managers’ tenure.
An FA Cup defeat to Villa in his first game was followed up with a 3-2 home victory over Fulham, before a 2-0 defeat versus Crystal Palace emphasises the size of the task Potter faces with West Ham.
Previous Meetings
This will be the third instalment of Aston Villa and West Ham this season. The Villans winning on both occasions by two goals to one.
On the opening day, Villa were victorious thanks to Jhon Duran, who scored late to give them three points on the first Saturday of the season. Amadou Onana on debut and Lucas Paqueta were also on the scoresheet.
The second clash came just over two weeks ago as Villa registered a second win over West Ham in the cup. Paqueta’s ninth minute strike gave West Ham an early lead, however Onana and Morgan Rogers engineered a second-half turnaround to send Villa into round four.
West Ham are winless in their last five league games against Villa since a 2-1 win back in 2022, coupled with a 4-1 victory at Villa Park in October 2021; their last win in the second city.
Last Five Meetings
January 2025: Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham
August 2024: West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa
March 2024: West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa
October 2023: Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham
March 2023: West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa
Team News
Aston Villa will be without Onana, Ross Barkley and Pau Torres for this game, while John McGinn steps up his fitness after returning to training with the rest of the squad, Emery confirmed in his press conference.
Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia could make their full debuts for Villa following their January moves to the club.
Jean-Clair Todibo is a doubt for West Ham’s visit to Villa. Meanwhile, Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville could potentially make a return to the side in some capacity, Potter was tentative and undecided on either of their returns.
Konstantinos Mavropanos will be unavailable due to his red card against Crystal Palace last week.
How to Watch and Kick-off time
The game will be broadcasted on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League in the UK, kick-off is at 4.30pm.