Aston Villa and West Ham clash in a heavyweight all-Premier League FA Cup third-round tie on Friday night, and it’s a contest between two teams that have realistic hopes of lifting the trophy at Wembley in May.
Villa have Champions League commitments to balance alongside the FA Cup and Premier League and Unai Emery’s men were beaten by Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup earlier in the campaign.
Rumours surrounding the future of West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui continue to circulate, but the FA Cup may offer some respite for the under-fire Hammers boss.
Aston Villa vs West Ham betting tips
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Hammers set to edge a Villa thriller
Lopetegui’s time in charge of West Ham may well have come to an end by the time the Hammers take on Aston Villa on Friday night, but the Irons look a bet with or without the Spaniard in charge.
Clearly, losing 5-0 and 4-1 is hardly ideal preparation for a contest at Villa Park. Still, those matches were against Liverpool and Manchester City.
While a game against Aston Villa is no easy task, there are a few reasons to think that the visitors may have a good opportunity to spring a surprise on Friday night.
This FA Cup third-round tie is the start of four fixtures in 10 days for Villa, who travel to Everton, Arsenal and Monaco following Friday’s tie with the Hammers.
Emery may look to rotate his side, given the demands of the upcoming fixture list and that proved unsuccessful when the Villans lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace at Villa Park in the EFL Cup.
A much-changed home side may offer West Ham an opportunity to progress in the competition, and for all that the Hammers haven’t reached the heights they would have liked this term, the east Londoners have beaten good teams in Palace, Bournemouth, Manchester United and Newcastle.
Expect goals in a cup classic
There have been 10 goals in West Ham’s last two matches and that trend for high-scoring encounters looks set to continue against Aston Villa.
Clearly, those two contests ended in heavy defeats for the Hammers, but the 4-1 loss at the Etihad last time out wasn’t anywhere near as one-sided as the scoreline suggests.
The Irons actually won the shot count at Eastlands and on another day, the Londoners may well have taken something from their trip to Manchester.
Over 2.5 goals have been scored in nine of Villa’s last 11, with three breaking the 3.5 line and Emery’s men look set for another entertaining clash.
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