I’ve only got 30 minutes of airport internet so let’s make this preview fast! Aston Villa host West Ham this weekend and we can only hope it will be a lot more entertaining than the previous fixture earlier in the season. Aston Villa managed a 0-0 draw against the Hammers and Upton Park. Andy Carroll has been in the centre of the media this week, following his red card against Swansea city and the FA’s decision against overturning the red card. West Ham believe strongly that Carroll did nothing and it was Chico’s acting that convinced Howard of the red card decision. Unbelievable there is still a chance that the FA might re-consider the decision.
West Ham are a completely different team with Andy Carroll and if he plays, out defence will have a tough time dealing with the former Liverpool player. It might make it even harder with captain Ron Vlaar ruled out. Agbonlahor is back and Aston Villa will hope to get back-to-back home victories.
Team News:
Ron Vlaar is ruled out with a hamstring injury, Agbonlahor is fit and raring to go. Chris Herd and Joe Bennett are too available.
Andy Carroll will miss this game with a suspension, may still be overturned today.
Match Facts:
Villa have won three and lost just one of their last six Barclays Premier League games against the Hammers.
Benteke has scored in three of his last four Premier League appearances for Villa.
Aston Villa have kept just one clean sheet in their last 11 Premier League games, conceding at least two goals in eight games during this run.
West Ham have kept the joint-most clean sheets in the Premier League along with Arsenal (11).
Nolan has also picked up two red cards and one yellow in his last three Premier League appearances away from home.
Predicted Lineups:
Guzan
Bacuna-Clark-Baker-Bertrand
El Ahmadi-Westwood-Delph
Weimann
Agbonlahor-Benteke
Borriello
Downing-Nolan-Jarvis
Nocerino-Noble
Armero-Tomkins-Collins-Demel
Adrian
Match Prediction:
Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham
It’s simply really, if Andy Carroll plays, West Ham can get a point from this fixture. If he doesn’t, Villa should be strong enough to win this game. Vlaar is a huge, huge miss however it will be welcoming to see Agbonlahor back in the side, last time he played (against Liverpool) he provided both assists.
Comments
81 responses to “Aston Villa Vs West Ham – Preview”
If the have Carroll they will go for it leaving – 3-3
Without Carroll they may park the bus – 1-1
I hope Lambert has learnt from last week and picks his best side, the side thats been performing ok prior to Everton
They will park the bus. 1-0 west ham, Carlton Cole to score
I can see a draw all the way im going 2-2,i really hope we get the 3pts.
There it no way Carroll will have his red overturned, he deserved it, you can see in the replay he swung his arm around tryin to hit chico just look at his face wen he is swinging the arm and then when he hits his head Carroll doesn’t even look or say sorry, its only cause he’s English all the media are defending him! Yes chico made a meal of it but if he was a few inches taller he would hav got it right in the face, Carrolls a scumbag probably caught it from barton when they played together. Im goin for a draw but will be disappointed if we dont win, just wet spam will park the bus and we won’t be able to break them down as usual so another boring game comin up!
and of course if this had been Benteke in exactly the same position you would be crying how unfair it was.
Typical football fans but that was never a sending off and the fact some think it was shows how soft the game is now, never mind Flores going down like a small little cry baby.
I agree 100% ..
the theatrical diving and gnashing of teeth while flailing around on the ground annoys my shit…
its right next to shearer and co defending suarez and his ilk for diving for penalties
pundits make the argument for a penalty or a card based on the time honoured phrase .. ” there was contact ..”
its a contact sport believe it or not. if it was a foul based on contact .. there are 40 uncalled fouls maybe 10 penalties per game …
If someone went down and was flailing around on the ground in the supermarket or at your work you’d call an ambulance and even if they said they were fine you’d still send them off to be checked out. I completely fail to see why this doesn’t happen in football. If they’re in that much distress after a tap on the head by the underside of someone’s arm they really need to go to be checked out. Simple as that.
That should get them going Ian.
but it is true, in any debate like this I always say IF it was a Villa Player would you agree …. the chances are in cases like this most would not. It was not a sending off but the FA will uphold it today.
Shows how poor we must be where people are worried that Carroll could play against us ….
ALSO shows how shite West ham are that they are so desperate for him to play.. a team who are paying 50K wages for joke…
The issue isn’t whether it was a sending off or not.. the issue is that on appela it was turned down and yet West Ham went a step further.. it would open up a massive can of worms and every other team would do it too..
Luckily it was upheld..
id have to disagree ian, I think kerryvillan got it spot on, it is exactly how I saw it, you can clearly see from the replay from carols face it was intentional, he lost his rag for a minute. chico is a total wanker but any deliberate attempt to strike a player is a red card, simple as that and it was right in front of the ref. and if it was a villa player id say the same, I wouldn’t be happy about it but id be calling the player stupid for letting himself be drawn into it in the 1st place, just what chico wanted.
the game itself will probably be a bore fest, 0-0 I could see quite easily and the reason people are concerned about carol playing is that since his return he has 3 assists and west ham have had a fantastic result against Chelsea and beat Swansea something which you could not have seen them doing before he came back. they are an awful team no doubt but clearly having their star man back has helped the confidence of the team much as it did for us when benteke started looking like his old self a few games ago.
So if that was Benteke, you would not complain ?
So so so sad that we have to rely on Carroll to be out to be confident
of course and rightly so the appeal has just failed, no surprise there but I am, just shocked that a fan really believes that was a sending off or some of the soft ones we see now.
so soft the game has become it is boring.
you clearly haven’t understood the point I was trying to make.
never mind.
why is that sad?
because his presence may inspire or create goals for west ham?
so chelsea must be pretty sad coming away with a draw from them ..
chelsea are a top team .. we must all be pretty sad ..
its table of sadness
One good thing with Vlaar out is that we cant possibly play 5-3-2!! However, Clark and Baker at the back…christ!
Still, we have no excuses not to play decent, entertaining football tomorrow and go for 3 points. With Carroll not playing even our defence should be able to hold them out.
Would like to see 4-2-3-1
Guzan
Lowton Clark Baker Bertrand
Westwood Delph
Weimann Bacuna Gabby
Benteke
Easy win tomor comfortable 2.0 to us
If you are a fan of video technology entering the game you may be wishing for Carroll to win his tribunal. Personally, the whole Carroll – Flores debate has little to do with the players at this point and I would be shocked if the FA overturns the ruling on the field. Was it harsh, sure, but if the FA do overturn the ban they will ultimately be striping of the referees ability to pass judgement and creating one giant mess for seasons to come.
If it was Benteke, of course the club would complain, but I honestly believe we’d never take it this far. We’d take the punishment and move on. Regardless if it’s a valid complaint the referee made the call and everyone involved will have to deal with it. If West Ham go down it won’t be for this one red card – no one forced them to put all of their eggs in the Carroll basket.
Regardless of Carroll though, I fancy Villa will be set up to attack tomorrow, especially with Vlaar out. 3-2 Villa.
Clarke is never going to be a top defender him and Baker together are a match made in heaven to the opposition mistake after mistake and he still doesn’t learn just hope Vlaar is back asap
I think i would have to agree with that so far.
I see either clark simply be outfoxed or out paced or out mucled and Baker make silly mistakes a lot
it doesn’t look good for them as defenders long term
at the same time, i find it hard to judge central defenders.
their mistakes or bad work is easily highlighted because a goal is conceded meanwhile everytime the prevent a break with simple positioning or instructions or the more subtle defensive work we – dont see it
is it possible to defend well but concede 2 goals in a game?
I think it might be, and i think it could be as much about how the team defend as a unit as much as the individual work at the back.
also I have to wonder how many goals we have conceded from full back mistakes
if we could take them out would baker and clark appear much more credible ?
Now although i am praying for a Villa win just can;t see it after last weekend ,and as for Lamberk getting another contract Lerner should wait and see over the next few games can;t rely on other teams doing us favours as sooner or later those teams below us are going to start putting points on the board.
Lamberk reckons that Lerner does attend games it sits somewhere else. Yeah of course paul we really believe u. Complete fuckwit
Carroll lashed out in temper. There was nothing natural about his swinging arm. If the original decision had been overturned it would be mayhem. I would feel disappointed if that was Benteke rather than Carroll, but I would be disappointed in him rather than the sending off. Flores reaction was absurd but that doesn’t affect the refs decision (though Flores should have got a yellow)
I’m not bothered whether Carroll plays or not. I’ve learnt that we are just as likely to lose to teams missing key players (Man U and Everton this season for a start) as those with full teams. We need to really go for all three points tomorrow, but with how poor we often are at home I’m far from confident.
I think everything that went before the arm swing was soft, but the arm swing is enough for him to be sent off, if it was our player i would have been against it until i saw the arm come round. You only have to look at Carrolls face to see it was an act of aggression.
Fuck it I’m going, see you all in the Villa Tavern just changed my mind , now don’t blame me if it don’t go our way, Remember I live with a West Ham neighbour next to me and he’s pissing me off, he cannot go but I can. You cannot know I’m there its obvious.? Utv., 🙂
Who really gives a fuck about that knob carroll. UTV have a nice day out bill p. 🙂
You know Giddy these only me and you now on here, have all pissed off. Last post 6 40 ish. What’s up think they are frightened of tomorrow. We. Will Win.. ffs.
We struggle to break any team down at home, so how are we going to do it against a team that has the joint highest amount of clean sheets this season and play even more negatively than we do when we’re crap?
Spam will play 6 in the middle and totally stifle the game.
Which will mean if we try and push, we’ll probably get caught out on the counter.
I can’t see past a single goal, but don’t know which way to call it.
If forced to choose a score, it’d have to be 0-0.
I’d normally be chomping at the bit to see a Villa-West Ham game, but am glad I won’t be there to see it in the flesh.
How times have changed and I’m surprised the Spam fans aren’t shouting louder at the shit they’re forced to watch.
All that said, I’m craving for something like a 3-0. It won’t happen though.
As for Carlton Cole, mediocre for us ……….. just mediocre, but yes, favourite to score against us.
some ppl are so transparent, posting just 2 fish 4 reactions ~ lets say we all agree with um, then that would confuse matters
predicting villa games is harder than watching us play. by far the best i av seen was the pool game, now if they can put a similar performance against hammers minus carroll ~ its a home win all the way, but we do struggle so wot against the poorer sides. this in mind and hammers playing 6 midfielders i see a 0 0 draw 🙁
I’ve just watched the Carroll-Flores thing and for me that’s quite simply a red card, from the angle that was shown;
http://www.joe.ie/football/football-news/video-andy-carroll-sent-off-against-swansea-for-this-elbow-on-chico-flores/
I didn’t see the game, don’t know the goings-on beforehand and don’t particularly care.
Looking at that in isolation (as a good ref shoud do), Carroll has thrown the smaller player and deliberately aimed in the face area with his elbow.
As for no contact, look closer.
I haven’t seen Flores’ reaction, but again don’t really care.
Even in the days of a man’s game, you can’t look to hurt somebody, it’s as simple as that.
And I’m well up there when it comes to suggesting that today’s players are a bunch of fairies.
Good call ref and fwiw, after the decision was upheld, it should have been increased to 6 or 10 games.
We can’t constantly be calling the ref, as if you do, you might as well take him out of the game and play football by video jury.
And if it was Benteke who did it, I’d have slated him, no danger.
My 100% one-eyed days are long gone and I prefer a fair game, where the best team wins.
Old fashioned, I know 🙁
Rant over 🙂
That Vine makes Carroll look like a giant!! like he is 7ft or something!
its just the angle but whatever
i am just annoyed at flores reaction to his pony tail being clipped
he did have carroll in a head lock at one point
but if a card can be given for intent then so be it
Well paul a quick fix didn’t hurt Chelsea or city did it. Fuck of lambert ur crap http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/paul-lambert-warns-aston-villa-3123340?
Tends to be why I never read articles from him anymore… His comments/talking is incredibly annoying/poor.
doesn’t want a quick fix….. so what does he do?…..Brings in 2 loan players for a quick fix the blokes just a complete bumbling wanker !
We are shit without Vlaar, lets just hope our forwards turn up. 1-0 Villa. Last seasons game at VP was woeful we won but it was two out of form sides not battling it out. Lets hope its a better game tom and the weather is not too cold
a while ago I sat down on a rare day off at the weekend and checked to see the early kick off, it was west ham vs west brom and I thought well thanks to who ever scheduled that one. it turned out 3-3! really enjoyable game.
that said im still fearing a bore fest of us wacking it up field only to be easily intercepted by their CB’s who in turn will wack it bak up the field to us until eventually ala crystal palace they walk away with the win. I seriously hope not, I hope gabby offers some mayhem and we take an early lead and hit em time again on the counter after that, id settle for 6-1 🙂
I think they will stub out our weak counter attacking play like a swan vesta in a gale,and over run our midfield like a hot knife through butter, so Lamberk will use all his technical nous and bring on super sub (the hod carrier) Grant Holt and try hoofing the long ball to him and benteke… I think it will be 0-1 West Ham
Lamberk has told the press he is not interested in quick fixes ……A week after the window closed which saw him bring in 2 loan players as a quick fix……one of the best quotes by him so far me thinks!!
4-0 to West Ham, including Andy Carroll hat trick.
Carol’s suspended, so 1-0 West Ham. Carlton Cole to get the goal!
Either that or 5-0 to Villa. Benteke hat trick, Gabby and Weimann to score.
Vlaar to score 3 Lowton comes on second half gets two, me to get pissed and buys the Villa. Hang on that flying pigs back. Have a bit of thought lads I’m down the match today.
I reckon villa will either win draw or lose but play shit I mean hoof ball
You’ve all forgotten our extra man – James Collins – who will line up at least one goal for us with a poor back pass or loose ball.
F*;,k me Foxy forgot about him, yes he’ll help us out with a goal or two.