Aston Villa-West Ham United Preview

West Ham boss David Moyes knows the Hammers' home form will be crucial to their bid for Premier League survival ahead of Sunday's meeting with Aston Villa.

The Hammers were thrashed 4-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion in their last league outing, having recorded a 4-0 home win over Nottingham Forest one week earlier.

With 17 of West Ham's 23 points being won at the London Stadium this season, Moyes knows they need to continue drawing on their home support when they host Unai Emery's in-form side.

"Our home form seems to be much better than our away form at the moment, but hopefully we can keep that going," Moyes said.

"We've got a chunk of home games coming up in the weeks to come. Aston Villa is our next game and we need to focus on that.

"We prepare our players for every game and we try to make sure they're given the right information and advice. We ask them to go out and perform - and we hope they do that."

While Villa begin the weekend in 11th place, they went within five points of seventh-placed Fulham by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 last time out.

Villa have been touted as potential European contenders after winning five of their first nine league games of 2023, and Emery is encouraging his team to dream.

"Getting into Europe is a possibility and if we can get a lot of points in the matches we are going to face, we can be close," he said.

"The most important thing now is trying to build a team, trying to build a family, trying to build a way, trying to build a good mentality.

"Then we can be excited and enjoy each match with our supporters, trying to connect with them, trying to use their energy."

West Ham - Danny Ings

Ings scored six Premier League goals for Aston Villa this season before joining the Hammers in the January transfer window. He could become the first player to score for and against the Villans in the same Premier League campaign, while he would be the first player to do so with any team since Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Manchester United in 2017-18.

Aston Villa - Leon Bailey

Only Ollie Watkins (12) and Douglas Luiz (seven) have bettered Bailey's return of six Premier League goal contributions for Villa this season. With West Ham needing to take the game to their opponents, there could be space for Bailey to exploit as the contest goes on.

West Ham manager Moyes is unbeaten in his last 13 Premier League games against Aston Villa (W8 D5) since a 1-0 loss with Everton in August 2010. Overall, Moyes has only won more Premier League games against Fulham (17) than he has against the Villans (12).

However, Aston Villa have won their last two Premier League games, beating Everton 2-0 and Crystal Palace 1-0. They last won three in a row in March 2022.

If West Ham are to avoid relegation, their home form will be key - After losing their last three home league games of 2022, West Ham are unbeaten at the London Stadium in 2023 (W2 D1). They've conceded just one goal at home so far this calendar year, while scoring seven themselves.

West Ham 43.7 per cent

Aston Villa 27.8 per cent

Draw 28.5 per cent

Updated March 11, 2023