English Premier League, Match Preview: Aston Villa versus West Ham
The new league season is all set to kick off on Saturday the 14th of August, 2010. On the first day there are a plethora of matches but football fans from Birmingham and London will be looking forward to the match between Aston Villa and West Ham.
West Ham surprisingly approach the match in a better condition than their opponents Aston Villa. Villa are apparently without a manager at the moment and it seems highly unlikely that they will find a replacement for Martin O’Neill in the next twenty four hours. Villa’s owner Randy Lerner has already stated his desire to take his time over the decision to appoint a new club manager.
As far as West Ham are concerned, they approach the new season with their new manager Avram Grant. Grant took over at West Ham United after they parted ways with Gianfranco Zola at the end of the 2009-2010 season. Grant previously worked at Portsmouth and did an astonishing job with the financial troubled English league club.
West Ham’s current squad contains a lot of new faces, which might mean that for the starting weeks of the new season, Grant might experiment with different formations and players to find the best mix for the rest of the season. Aston Villa on the other hand have failed to do any business in the summer transfer window so far and things look bleak for the former European champions. Villa have already sold several of their players like Wilfred Bouma, Marlon Harewood and Nicky Shorey. James Milner, Aston Villa’s star midfielder looks to be on his way to Manchester City and thus it is not expected that he will feature for Villa in their opening match of the season.
West Ham have already done some healthy business in the transfer window as they have bought Piquionne from Portsmouth, Pablo Barrera from UNAM Pumas and Winston Reid from F.C Midtjylland. Exits from the club include the likes of Guillermo Franco, Matt Fry and Bondz N’Gala.
As the transfer window is still open, both the clubs are linked to several players. West Ham are rumoured to be tracking Boateng at Portsmouth and O’Hara at Tottenham. While Aston Villa are considered to be interested in signing Craig Bellamy and Stephen Ireland from the whole sale that is about to go up at Manchester City.
Both of these English clubs will be looking to start off their new league campaigns with assertive wins over each other. West Ham will most likely start as underdogs, as the match is taking place at Villa Park which is Aston Villa’s home stadium. Moreover, the Hammers are expected to use a 4-5-1 formation with Carlton Cole as the sole striker upfront. In the midfield, Scott Parker, Noble, Behrami, Diamanti and Hitzelsperger are favourites to start for Avram Grant’s side.
In contrast Aston Villa are all set to use their usual 4-4-2 formation with Carew and Agbonlahor upfront. In the middle of the park, Ashley Young and Downing are preferred to start on the wings with Reo Coker and Stilian Petrov in central positions. At the back, where Villa are one of the strongest teams in the English League, Dunne is expected to play as the centre back alongside Collins. Plus, Warnock and Luke Young are deemed to be sure shot starters at both the full back positions.
Last season’s fixture finished in a draw between both the clubs. However it should be noted that West Ham have not won an away match in the English Premier League for over a year, so their chances of altering that run of bad luck are weak. The referee in charge of this match is Mike Dean, who has been at the centre of several controversial decisions in the previous two to three seasons.
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