West Ham vs Aston Villa preview, details, team news and predictions

West Ham welcome Champions League hopefuls, Aston Villa to the London Stadium on Sunday as both teams will aim for maximum points to solidify their European qualification hopes.

Both teams are coming to this game at the back of emphatic continental triumphs in the round of 16 of the Europa and Conference League respectively. West Ham dismantled Freiburg 5-0 while Villa trashed Ajax 4:0 as both English clubs secured qualification to the next round.

For the Hammers, they might have felt hard done by after a last-minute controversial penalty decision that didn’t go their way in the 1:0 loss to Freiburg at the Europa Park stadium.

The Hammers turned on the heat by completely dominating the Breisgau-Brasilianer at the London Stadium.

After a string of successive corner-kicks, Aaron Cresswell’s corner was flicked at the near post by Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta was in the right position at the right time to poke the ball into an empty net.

Freiburg came close straight after kick-off as Max Eggestein played in Roland Sallai who had only Lukasz Fabianski to beat but dragged his effort wide.

Mohamed Kudus should have doubled the lead with the goal at his mercy after Michail Antonio’s cross but the Ghanaian fluffed his chance.

Antonio turned provider after a brilliant hold-up play allowed Jarrod Bowen to latch a fine strike from the edge of the box to double the lead for the Hammers to end the first half ahead on aggregate.

West Ham didn’t take long to continue their routing in the second half after Bowen’s cross was cleared out only as far as Cresswell who exquisitely fired an “Emerson-esque” strike to the top corner of the net to extend the lead to 3:0.

As the saying goes, “Cometh the hour, cometh the man”. Then came Kudus as the man of the hour as he took the ball from his half before gliding past not one, not two, but three Freiburg players to strike home what West Ham’s manager, David Moyes described as a “Roy of the Rovers-type goal.”

Kudus added the fifth goal for West Ham and his second of the night before celebrating in quite an exquisite fashion.

The win ensured West Ham’s qualification into the next round of the Europa League where they will face Bayer Leverkusen in the next round of the competition. But first, attention turns to domestic competitions where they will host Aston Villa who also recorded an emphatic 4:0 victory over Ajax on Thursday.

Unai Emery’s side played out a 0:0 stalemate in the first leg at the Johan Cruijff ArenA and completely turned the tide at Villa Park.

Ollie Watkins continued his goalscoring form when he headed home the opener before Leon Bailey extended the lead. Colombian striker, Jhon Duran struck home a powerful strike to deny Ajax any chance of mounting a comeback. The Dutch side had chances to draw the game level in the first half but fluffed their chances as the Villains came into the second half guns-blazing.

Moussa Diaby who was recalled to France’s national team for the first time in 12 months quadrupled the routing with a fine strike to ensure Villa’s qualification into the next round of the UEFA Conference League where they will face French side, Lille.

The Villain’s Champions League qualification is now hanging in the balance after being thumped 4:0 at home to fellow Champions League hopefuls, Tottenham Hotspur.

Defeat to West Ham could see them drop the pecking order if Spurs secure victory against Fulham. Hence, this match promises to be a tense, high-level affair as either team could drop positions at the end of matchday 29.

West Ham v Aston Villa match details 

Date: Sunday, March 17, 2024

Location: London, England

Venue: London Stadium

Kick-off time: 02:00 PM GMT, 07:30 PM IST

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Fourth official: Sam Allison

VAR: Tony Harrington

Tickets: Match going fans can buy tickets for the game through official club channels or via a ticket marketplace such as seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head 

• Emery’s side are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League matches against London opponents, winning six and drawing two.

• Following a run of six games without a win in 2024, the Hammers have regained form winning two of their last three League matches while drawing their most recent match against Burnley.

• Villa are coming into this game at the back of three consecutive away victories against Luton Town, Fulham and Sheffield United.

• The Villains are aiming for their first League double over West Ham since the 2010-11 season.

• Moyes’ side are unbeaten in their last eight home matches in the Premier League against Sunday’s opponents, winning four and drawing four. Their last Premier League home defeat against Villa came in 2011 where they lost 2:1 following a last-minute Gabriel Agbonlahor goal.

• West Ham’s duo of Kudus and Jarrod Bowen are the only Premier League duo to hit double figures in home matches across all competitions alongside Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota at Anfield Stadium as well as Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez at the Etihad Stadium.

Team news 

For West Ham, Maxwel Cornet and Emerson Palmieri were the only absentees during the Hammers’ victory over Freiburg following respective thigh and groin injuries.

While Cornet is not expected to return until after the international break, Emerson could feature pending a late fitness test.

Villa would be hopeful that Watkins’ knock during the game against Ajax is not serious after he was withdrawn after 33 minutes.

Centre-back, Diego Carlos is out with a hamstring injury while captain, John McGinn is suspended after receiving a red card in the game against Tottenham.

Jacob Ramsey is out with a niggling ankle injury while Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara and Emiliano Buendia are all out with knee injuries.

Predicted starting line-ups

West Ham United predicted starting lineup:

Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Mavropanos, Cresswell; Alvarez, Ward-Prowse; Kudus, Paqueta, Bowen; Ings

Aston Villa predicted starting lineup:

Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Lenglet, Digne; Rogers, Tielemans, Luiz, Bailey; Diaby, Duran

Prediction

Both teams are coming into this game on the back of impressive wins in their respective continental competitions. However, Villa are the stronger side in the domestic League despite their abysmal 4-0 loss to Spurs.

Although West Ham are unbeaten in their last three games, Villa possesses stringer firepower but the potential absence of the club’s top-scorer, Watkins could be a big blow to the Villains heading into this tie.

Victory for Villa is predicted as they’re in a more critical position of possibly losing their Champions League spot if they lose or draw.