Aston Villa vs. West Ham United 8/28/22 EPL Soccer Picks, Predictions, Odds

Aston Villa and West Ham United face off on Sunday in an English Premier League showdown at Villa Park. When these two teams faced off on March 13th it was West Ham United that secured the 2-1 victory. 

Aston Villa currently sits in 14th place in the standings having picked up three points. Aston Villa started the season with a loss, and the last game was also a loss, but they do have a win over Everton in the middle of those two games. In the last game against Crystal Palace, the defense again struggled, giving up three goals, and that led to the two-goal defeat. In that last game against Crystal Palace, Ollie Watkins actually opened up the scoring in the 5th minute, but then the defense really struggled. They had 48 percent of the possession and five shots on target. They had a midweek game in the EFL Cup against Bolton, and they were able to win 4-1. Ludwig Augustinsson is dealing with a knee injury, and it’s unclear if he will be able to go in this game. 

On the other side of this matchup is West Ham United who sit in 20th place in the standings having picked up zero points in the first three games. West Ham has lost to Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, and Brighton. So far this season West Ham has failed to score any goals, and in this game they need to find a way to get the offense going, or it’s going to be another long game. West Ham played a midweek Europa game against Viborg and the offense was better in that game, scoring three goals on the way to the victory. Emerson Palmieri has moved in from Chelsea, and he is expected to at least play some sort of role in this game, although it’s unclear if he is going to start. 

West Ham’s offense has struggled coming into this game, but that will change against an Aston Villa defense that has had some major issues this season. Getting Palmieri is a big boost for this game, and I expect West Ham to start the scoring within the first 20 minutes. Aston Villa is going to have no answer, and West Ham is going to come away with the victory. Back West Ham on the money line.