Aston Villa look to make it four wins on the bounce as West Ham return to England after a midweek journey to Seville to host the Villans.
This game could be crucial for Villa to keep their slim chances of European football alive next season. It won’t be an easy feat as West Ham will want to rectify the loss they suffered in Europe in midweek.
I spoke to West Ham Report to gather their thoughts on West Ham’s chances of a second consecutive European season, Bowen’s England hopes and the talent of Declan Rice
UTV PODCAST X WEST HAM REPORT
Things at the top of the table look close with West Ham looking in a favourable position to get a European spot, are you confident that you can secure a spot in Europe for another season?
I’m quietly confident we will get some form of European football next season. As much as I’d love us to finish 4th or above and experience the Champions League I always try and remain realistic with my expectations, especially when it comes to West Ham. Given our current form and injuries, lack of squad depth and the form of Spurs, Arsenal and Wolves I’d be chuffed if we finish high enough and get a Europa Conference League spot. I’m a football purist so you can say what you want about the competition but I can guarantee we’ll sell out every home and away game for it. Bring on Qarabag away
West Ham Report
Both Bowen and Antonio have been absolutely lethal in front of goal this season with a combined 40 goal contributions so far this season, how much do you think Bowen deserves an England call up?
Jarrod Bowen is easily our best player behind Declan Rice. Jarrod deserves to be there, the stats don’t lie and he’s an absolute work horse. I’d love to see him in an England shirt but every West Ham fan has their reservations about players going to play for their countries because of injuries. We lost Dean Ashton completely and a prime Lanzini due to international duties…
West Ham Report
Further down the pitch Declan Rice has been absolutely unreal for you this season, how much similarity is there between him and Noble and how important is it that West Ham keep him in the summer?
Noble has been huge for Declan in his development as a player. Declan is essentially Mark Noble reincarnated, just obviously better at the game. It goes without saying keeping Declan Rice is so crucial to us, he’s simply irreplaceable. Name me a player in world football that’s anything like him, on and off the pitch? You can’t. The sad reality is he will probably go and if he does go I just hope it’s to someone like Real Madrid. Unless you watch him week in week out like we do, you’ll never understand how good Rice is.
West Ham Report
Finally, what are your predictions for the rest of the season?
My prediction is we’ll finish 7th strongly. I don’t think it will be down to fault of the squad or Moyes or anything else other than we just ran out of steam. I’ve seen two relegations within my time of watch the Hammers so finishing there or there abouts in Europe every season? Yes please.
West Ham Report
FORM GUIDE
Villa come into the game with three back to back wins whilst West Ham have fallen to three consecutive defeats in three different competitions.
OPPOSITION FOCUS | How important is Declan Rice?
Before I started writing this article I was torn on who to focus my insight on as there have been several stand out players for West Ham this season. However, I decided to look at perhaps the most intriguing player for me, Declan Rice. It is clear to anyone that watches West Ham that without Rice, West Ham wouldn’t be anywhere near the European places.
Perhaps the thing that stands out to me the most about Rice is how much of a leader he is for someone of his age. The 23-year-old takes the captain role in his stride and I genuinely think the responsibility makes him a better player. The fact that he has a role model like Mark Noble to work with must be helping him as he can look to Noble both in a playing sense and in a leadership sense.
However, what makes a captain truly great is that he has the ability on the pitch to change a game. For example, take the game against Kidderminster Harriers early on in the season. Admittedly, the game was against much lesser opposition but without Rice on the pitch West Ham was lacklustre. They couldn’t make two passes in a sequence, their first touch was off, they were poor. When Moyes introduced Rice to the game, everything changed. West Ham started playing nice football and getting up the pitch which resulted in Rice himself scoring a lovely goal to force the game into extra time where they eventually won in the last seconds of extra time. This isn’t the only time where the sheer presence of Declan Rice has made West Ham buck their ideas up.
A criticism that Declan Rice has had in prior seasons is that he has struggled to contribute in the attacking side of the game but even that has changed this season with Rice notching up four goals and four assists so far this season. This shows that Rice is aware of what his game lacks and he will work hard to correct it. Defensively, Rice is always solid averaging around two tackles a game showing his importance in breaking up play and allowing his team to counter. Rice’s passing, arguably his strongest asset, is up to there with the best in the league this season averaging 91.3% in all competitions. And finally, all-around Rice seems to be consistently solid averaging rating of 7 or above in all competitions.
West Ham must manage to find a way to keep Declan Rice at the club as I believe it will be a challenging task to find anyone at Rice’s level. As for Rice, if he does move I can’t see it being to an English club but to a top-quality European club like Real Madrid so that he can showcase just how much of a special player he is.
THE LAST 3 MEETINGS
PREMIER LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD
LAST TIME AT THE LONDON STADIUM
Aston Villa travelled down to a buzzing London Stadium where West Ham had been undefeated at home whereas Villa was undefeated away from home. Two teams keen to keep their records alive clashed.
Things started in the worst possible way for Villa as Soucek’s shot was bravely blocked by Targett and out for a corner. Jarrod Bowen stepped up to take the corner early on in the game and it was a perfect hit that fell straight to the head of Ogbonna who generated enough power to make the shot unstoppable. West Ham was winning with only two minutes played. Villa responded well though with a well-worked corner routine of their own as Targett received the ball at the edge of the box and curled a cross in toward Konsa who couldn’t generate the power or direction on his header.
Villa once again went on the front foot as Trezequet won a free kick in a promising position which Conor Hourihane got on target but didn’t trouble Fabianski in goal. Villa countered once again this time through the magic of Grealish who picked up the ball deep into West Ham’s half and drove before unleashing a powerful shot from just outside the box which beat Fabianski’s flailing hands and ended up in the net to equal things up.
Villa continued piling on the pressure as West Ham failed to clear their lines leaving Ollie Watkins with a chance but he struggled to get his foot around the ball and it went out for a goal kick. Villa’s last chance of the second half was yet another Hourihane free-kick which couldn’t quite find its way inside the near post.
West Ham started the second half almost identically to the way they started the second half as Benrahma’s cross found the head of Bowen who headed the ball over Martinez and into the net. Villa had dominated the first half but found themselves behind again due to their inability to start a half well.
Villa caught West Ham by surprise with a counter-attack that saw Watkins square the ball to Trezequet who was denied an almost certain goal by a stunning reflex stop from Fabianski. Villa caused the Hammers issues again as Douglas Luiz’s run wasn’t picked up until late meaning he was bought down inside of the box for a penalty. Watkins stepped up to take it and smacked it off the crossbar and out.
Villa kept on going until the last minute and they were rewarded as Ollie Watkins got onto a Targett cross and tapped it into the net sending Villa fans into a frenzy. However after VAR took far too long to decide, the goal was chalked off as Watkins’s arm was in an offside position.
Villa was denied a point at the death due to a dodgy VAR decision but the blame can’t all be pinned on that as Villa were wasteful with their shots and should have done much better.
MY PREDICTION
Both teams will be feeling fairly confident coming into the fixture and West Ham will represent a huge challenge and will show us at what level this side is at. I can see this being a very tightly contested game with Villa, being the form team, to knick it 2-1. Danny Ings and John McGinn knocking the goals home.
ELLIS BURNETT | UTV PODCAST
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive ellisburnett – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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