The Julen Lopetegui era at West Ham United begins on Saturday evening when the Hammers welcome Aston Villa to the London Stadium for their opening fixture of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
August 2012 was the last time that these two teams butted heads in an opening Premier League fixture, with the Hammers claiming a slender 1-0 victory at Upton Park.
Match preview
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After four years filled with plenty of highs and lows under the tutelage of David Moyes, West Ham usher in a new era under another experienced head in the form of Julen Lopetegui, formerly of clubs including Real Madrid, Sevilla and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The pull of the Premier League was ultimately too good to turn down for the 57-year-old, who has enjoyed an encouraging summer transfer window that has seen the Hammers spend in excess of £120m on eight new players, with the Spaniard attempting to build a "complete team".
West Ham's business represents a statement of intent from the club, who have aspirations of returning to European competition - just under two years on from their historic Conference League triumph - and will endeavour to improve on last season's ninth-placed finish in the Premier League.
The Hammers ended their pre-season campaign by retaining the Betway Cup with a 6-5 penalty-shootout win over Celta Vigo last weekend, after playing out an entertaining 2-2 on home soil. Lopetegui's men won one, drew one and lost two of their previous four friendly fixtures.
West Ham's focus now shift to the new Premier League season and they enter Saturday's clash with Aston Villa having won their opening top-flight fixture just once in the last eight seasons - the Hammers have in fact lost their opening match in the Premier League more often than any other team (15) in the division's history.
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For the first-time in 41 years, Aston Villa will be competing in the top tier of European football this term after they shocked the Premier League landscape to deservedly secure a top-four finish last season ahead of the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Lions almost capped their memorable domestic campaign with European glory, but Unai Emery's men came up short in the semi-finals of the Conference League against eventual champions Olympiacos.
Villa have since taken part in seven friendly fixtures over the summer and while it is difficult to read too much into what goes on over pre-season, four defeats from their last five - including three defeats on their tour of the United States and a 2-0 loss away against Borussia Dortmund last weekend - does not make for good reading.
The big-money departures of Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby, particularly the former, come as a blow for Villa, but Emery still has plenty of established, top-quality players at his disposal and has also welcomed eight new arrivals this summer, with the West Midlands outfit targeting another top-four finish this season.
Aston Villa travel to the London Stadium on Saturday seeking to amend their dismal record against West Ham; the Lions have won just one of their last 12 Premier League encounters with the Hammers and have also failed to win any of their previous nine away league meetings. In addition, Villa have lost their opening Premier League match in each of the last three seasons, conceding 10 goals in the process.
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Team News
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West Ham will be without midfielder Edson Alvarez, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury sustained on international duty with Mexico at the 2024 Copa America, while Kurt Zouma's proposed move to UAE outfit Shabab Al-Ahli is in doubt after he failed a medical.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka only joined the Hammers on Tuesday and it seems unlikely that the right-back will be thrown straight into the starting lineup ahead of Vladimir Coufal. The same can be said for another recent recruit in Jean-Clair Todibo, but Max Kilman is in line to start at centre-back.
Guido Rodriguez, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug are three more new players who are in contention to make their debuts, while Lopetegui is expected to hand starts to the likes of Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen, who has been appointed West Ham's new captain.
As for Aston Villa, Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are still on the road to recovery from serious knee injuries, while backup goalkeeper Robin Olsen is doubtful with a facial injury picked up in a pre-season match against RB Leipzig at the end of last month.
Diego Carlos has been linked with a move away from Villa so he is not expected to be involved on Saturday, meaning Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa could start together in central defence, while summer signing Ian Maatsen will be pushing to start at either right-back or left-back.
Amadou Onana has joined from Everton for around £50m and he could line up in a four-man midfield with John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and either Leon Bailey or Jacob Ramsey, while star striker Ollie Watkins did not play a single minute in pre-season following his heroics with England at Euro 2024, but he should be fit to start in attack with Morgan Rogers - West Ham-linked Jhon Duran is also in contention to play.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez; Bowen, Kudus, Paqueta; Fullkrug
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Maatsen, Konsa, Torres, Moreno; Bailey, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn; Rogers; Watkins
"I'm confident we're in a really good place" - what have the managers said?
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui
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"I'm very excited for this first match. We know it's not going to be easy, but all of our work since the very start of the summer has been leading up to this moment, and it's going to be great to finally get out on the pitch.
"We've had two main parts to the pre-season - in Austria, and then in the USA - as well as the work we've done here in England. We've tried to translate our ideas, and we've worked hard to understand each other as players and as coaches.
"I'm confident we're in a really good place, and the players' commitment has been huge, which is what we've needed. We've tried to get into the best place we can for the first game, and now it's time to put it into action.
"Aston Villa were one of the best teams in the Premier League last season, and they're a UEFA Champions League team now. I think they have improved even more over the summer, so we have to be ready for a big challenge.
"Unai Emery has done a brilliant job there over the last couple of seasons, but it in the end it will be about what happens on the pitch on the day.
"It's going to be hard, but at the same time we have to have belief in ourselves, and develop our work in the best way we can. We're all looking forward to getting going."
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery
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"West Ham, two years ago, they won the Conference League and were playing consistently in Europe. They didn't get it last year for this season, but their objective is to be trying to get the same as we got last year – to be in the top seven. This is an objective they can have.
"Their power as a club, with the players and coach they have, is going in this direction. I think they're going to try to get the same as we got last year. Tomorrow is a very good match between two teams who are similar.
"The objective we have must be similar with the potential we have. I am very motivated and excited with the players about how we can start tomorrow."
We say: West Ham United 2-2 Aston Villa
Both West Ham and Aston Villa have been tipped to perform well in the Premier League this season, although neither team have a particularly good record on the opening weekend of a new top-flight season.
Following a mixed pre-season for both clubs, it is difficult to confidently predict a winner for this contest, so we feel that an entertaining score draw could be on the cards.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
