Aston Villa play host to West Ham United on Wednesday evening with the opportunity to move level on points with their fifth-placed opponents in the Premier League standings.

Meanwhile, the Hammers make the trip to Birmingham looking for the victory which would keep the club in contention for the Champions League positions.

Match preview

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith pictured on January 1, 2021 © Reuters

Dean Smith would have been frustrated when Villa twice gave up a lead to eventually lose 3-2 at Burnley last week, a result which hit their hopes of ending the campaign in the top seven.

However, the West Midlands outfit battled their way to a 1-0 win at Southampton on Saturday night, leaving the club seven points off the top four with two matches in hand.

Smith would prefer to have more points on the board at this stage of the season, but optimism will remain high with many of the teams around them struggling for consistency.

Villa's home record has also improved in recent weeks, with seven points being collected from games against Burnley, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United.

That return will come under threat on Wednesday evening when going up against a West Ham side who have picked up four wins from six games on their travels.

David Moyes would have been disappointed with the defeat to Liverpool at the weekend, with all three goals coming in the second half.

Nevertheless, the Scot will be confident that losing out to the resurgent champions will only act as a minor blip, particularly with the added motivation of trying to stay in the top six.

West Ham have been reliant on a well-oiled backline for the majority of the campaign, but six strikes have been conceded in their most recent triple-header with West Bromwich Albion, Palace and Liverpool.

The Hammers prevailed by a 2-1 scoreline in the reverse fixture on November 30 courtesy of goals from Angelo Ogbonna and Jarrod Bowen.

Aston Villa Premier League form: DLLWLW
Aston Villa form (all competitions): LLLWLW

West Ham United Premier League form: DWWWWL
West Ham United form (all competitions): WWWWWL

Team News

West Ham United manager David Moyes pictured on January 23, 2021 © Reuters

Moyes must decide whether to hand a first start to Jesse Lingard after his loan move from Manchester United.

While the Scot will assess the fitness of Michail Antonio, the Hammers may line up with the same team which started against Liverpool.

Smith could take the same approach with his Villa XI having had an extra day to prepare for this fixture.

That would see Morgan Sanson remaining on the substitutes' bench as he awaits his first outing in a Villa shirt.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; Luiz, McGinn; Traore, Barkley, Grealish; Watkins

West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals; Antonio

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We say: Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham United

Having performed well in defeat to Liverpool, West Ham are capable of getting back on track on Wednesday evening. However, Villa's extra quality in the final third could shine through over the 90 minutes, particularly with their opponents conscious of getting caught on the break if they push too hard for maximum points.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Video prediction

Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a West Ham United win with a probability of 40.33%. A win for Aston Villa had a probability of 33.82% and a draw had a probability of 25.9%.

The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.66%) and 0-2 (6.82%). The likeliest Aston Villa win was 1-0 (8.7%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.27%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 4.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that West Ham United would win this match.