Premier League preview and odds: Aston Villa vs West Ham United

Published on: 21/12/2015

Premier League preview and odds: Aston Villa vs West Ham United

December 26, 2015 15:00pm - Villa Park

Premier League

Aston Villa will be hoping to bring some much-needed Christmas cheer to their fans on Boxing day when they welcome draw specialists West Ham United to Villa Park in the Barclays Premier League.

Villa in danger of being cut adrift

Aston Villa showed further signs of improvement when they held Newcastle to a draw last weekend, but they are currently 10 points adrift of safety and in desperate need of a win. It may be too late for the Midland club to avoid relegation but a couple of positive results over the holiday period could at least give them some hope going into the New Year.

The team showed great attitude to fight back from a goal down against an in-form Newcastle side last weekend, and will hoping that they can take advantage of a West Ham team missing some key players on Boxing Day.

Four draws on the spin for Hammers

West Ham United are unbeaten in four straight games but have drawn all of those encounters. Boss Slaven Bilic has had to cope without some key players in the last few weeks, so their run does not look to bad when observed in context.

The Hammers come into this game on the back of their third straight goalless draw (at Swansea) which marked their fifth stalemate in the last seven games. Their last win in the league came back in October against Chelsea but despite their dip in form, they are still in eighth place in the table, just four points away from the top four.

Team news

Micah Richards remains a doubt for the home side, while Jordan Amavi and Gary Gardner are both still missing.

West Ham could welcome back Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll but Winston Reid, Victor Moses, Diafra Sakho and Dimitri Payet are all out of action.

Recent form (League)

Aston Villa: DLDLL

West Ham United: DDDDL

Betting odds and tips

Aston Villa are improving each week and have drawn two of their last three. West Ham have drawn four in a row and are still on a damage limitation exercise while they manage without some key players. The stalemate can be backed at 9/4 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 21/12/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (21/12/2015 12:19:49) but are subject to change.