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EPL Aston Villa vs West Ham Preview: Tips, Odds, and Prediction

With excitement building and anticipation growing ahead of kickoff, Premier League betting fans are already diving into the odds and assessing both teams, hoping to find the best value. For a detailed, in-depth look at the match, be sure to check out our full preview. Unai Emery’s Aston Villa welcomes Graham Potter’s West Ham to Villa Park on a late Sunday afternoon on January 26th.

Tim Rickson
Tim Rickson

Last Updated: 2025-01-23

Chad Nagel

7 minutes read

Vladimir Coufal runs with the ball whilst under pressure from Ollie Watkins

Vladimir Coufal runs with the ball whilst under pressure from Ollie Watkins//Getty Images

At the time of writing, Aston Villa are eighth and West Ham further down the table in 14th. Although there are only six places separating them, Villa are a whole 10 points ahead.

Aston Villa have picked up 11 points from their previous six league games, compared to West Ham’s slightly lower seven.

These two clubs are very closely matched in history, with Villa winning 41 matches to West Ham’s 45, and 36 games drawn.

In their recent rivalry, Aston Villa have had the upper hand, unbeaten in their last five games against them. However, in the previous five games before that run, they lost all five in a row to the Hammers between 2020-2022. It took Aston Villa eight years to finally beat West Ham in 2023.

But already this season, Aston Villa have bested West Ham twice – at the start of the season and the beginning of this year too.

So, will recent history repeat itself or will the Hammers finally get revenge? Let’s take a closer look into this fixture to find out.

Pre-Game Odds and Win Probability: Aston Villa Slight Favourites

  1. Home: 14/25 (1.56) – 64,1%

  2. Draw: 33/10 (4.30) – 23,3%

  3. Away: 23/5 (5.60) – 17,9%

  4. *Odds courtesy of Betway, subject to change*

Head-to-Head Record

Last Five Meetings

  1. 10/01/25: Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham

  2. 17/08/24: West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa

  3. 17/03/24: West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa

  4. 22/10/23: Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham

  5. 12/03/23: West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa

Aston Villa: Current Form – WWWDLW

Not only are Aston Villa eighth in the Premier League, they’re also sixth in Champions League, having beaten the likes of Bayern Munich.

They have already beaten West Ham twice this season, both times 2-1, in the first game of the season and again this year in the third round of the FA Cup.

Their recent, worrying away record was finally broken in their January 15th game with Everton, winning 1-0 at Goodison Park; in-form striker Ollie Watkins scoring the winner. Prior to that, they had lost away to Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham.

In the league, they have won 10 games, only the top five teams have won more. However, they have the worst goal difference from any of the teams in the top table, with -1, scoring 33 but conceding 34. Only seven other teams have let in more goals this season.

Their last result was impressive – a 2-2 draw away to Arsenal – yet the one single point gained saw them drop from seventh to eighth place.

Aston Villa are unbeaten this year but have a third away game in a row to contend with in the Champions League against Monaco before hosting West Ham at Villa Park.

Key Players To Watch

  • Ollie Watkins – Top striker Ollie Watkins is in the top 10 goal scorers in the league this season with 10. Able to do the same at international level, Watkins has scored five for England in just 11 games.
  • John McGinn – Club captain John McGinn leads the team by example, strong and industrious, and has played over 200 games for Villa, as well as over 70 caps collected for Scotland.
  • Tyrone Mings – Solid defender Mings has been at the club for over five years now, so is a regular starting lineup player, who is a big influence in the team and occasionally pops up with a goal.

Aston Villa Team News

West Ham are interested in Aston Villa’s striker, Jhon Duran, but it’s thought he is overpriced at over £70 million.

22-year-old winger Jason Philogene left Aston Villa in the January transfer window for Ipswich, who paid £20 million.

Aston Villa signed Donyell Malen for £21 million from Borussia Dortmund and will be available for selection against West Ham.

West Ham: Current Form – WLLLWD

Following 20 months of unemployment, after his Chelsea exit, Graham Potter signed a two-and-a-half-year deal at West Ham on January 9th.

The new boss’s first match in charge was against Aston Villa in the FA Cup. Not only does he face them again just 16 days later, playing them twice within his first four matches as manager, but he and his family are lifelong supporters of the Midlands club, having grown up in nearby Solihull.

As a player, he never signed for Villa but did play for local rivals Birmingham and West Brom.

His loyalty now belongs to another team in claret and blue – West Ham. And after losing to them in his first match in charge, he will be as determined as his players to get revenge, especially since they have lost twice this season to the Villans already this season.

Villa are aiming to qualify for Champions League again, whereas West Ham are struggling to keep a safe distance from relegation. They have lost 10 times in 22 games, only five clubs in the league have lost more times. They desperately need a win to avoid slipping any further down the table.

Key Players To Watch

  • Jarrod Bowen – 28-year-old winger Jarrod Bowen is quick, direct and speedy, with an eye for goal, which is reflected in his six goals in 21 games this season.
  • Tomas Soucek – Defensive midfielder Soucek, 29 from Czech Republic, is an important player to West Ham and also captains his national team.
  • Lucas Paqueta – Brazilian international, Paqueta, has scored five in 23 games for the Hammers this season and looks re-energised under Graham Potter, showing significant signs of confidence and renewed form already, scoring in both games for his new boss.

West Ham Team News

Crysencio Summerville is recovering from a hamstring injury but should be fit for selection by the time this fixture rolls around.

West Ham are looking to hijack Newcastle’s bid to buy Turkish attacker Alper Yilmaz in the January window. The 24-year-old star has bagged 10 goals in 18 games for Galatasaray this season and would be a welcome boost to their attacking options.

Technical Director, Tim Steidten, looks certain to leave the club by the end of the season.

West Ham’s kit was won in a bet against Aston Villa in 1899, hence why they both wear claret and blue. Bill Dove, the father of a West Ham player, was at a Birmingham fair and was challenged to a race by four Aston Villa players and he won, so he was awarded with a complete team’s football kit as a prize.

Predicted Line-Ups

  1. Aston Villa: 4-2-3-1

    Martinez; Cash, Ngoyo, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Onana; Rogers, Tielemans, Ramsey; Watkins.

  2. West Ham: 4-2-3-1

    Fabianski; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Alvarez, Rodriguez; Kudus, Soucek, Soler; Paqueta.

Suggested Bets

If you love betting on football, here are some bets you can place at some of the popular sportsbooks.

  1. Match Winner – Aston Villa and Both Teams to Score: Aston Villa to win at home with West Ham scoring too could be worth a punt with these odds. (41/20 with Betway)

  2. Correct Score 2-1: The odds for Aston Villa to win 2-1 looks attractive. (38/5 with Betway)

  3. Halftime/Fulltime – West Ham/Aston Villa: West Ham to lead at half time, with Aston Villa to win by full time could be a realistic scenario and the odds are high. (24/1 with Betway)

Value Bets

  1. Ollie Watkins To Score Two or More: Leading goalscorer Ollie Watkins to score twice is worth a punt with these odds. (11/2 with 1Win)

  2. First Player to Score – Morgan Rogers: Rogers to score the first goal has very attractive odds. (8/1 with 1Win)

  3. Exact Number of Goals – 3: Backing our predicted scoreline, the odds for three goals to be scored looks decent. (319/100 with Pinnacle)

Prediction: Aston Villa to Win

Aston Villa have lost only two from 16 home games this season, which is an impressive record in front of their passionate fans.

No doubt, West Ham will be up for this having already lost twice to their original kit supplier. It’s a matter of pride that they don’t get beaten a third time within just five months. With Graham Potter making an instant impact at the club, and his players visibly boosted under his brand-new guidance, it’s possible Aston Villa could be in for a shock when they play a team that’s vastly improved from just two weeks ago.

This improvement, having lost 2-1 twice already to Villa, could mathematically suggest that this will end in a draw, with the home team so hard to beat at Villa Park.

However, we predict the hosts, Aston Villa, to win 2-1… again.

Tim Rickson
Tim RicksonSports Writer

Tim has over 27 years experience within the sports industry, working for football clubs Arsenal FC and Millwall FC, and boxing news websites British Boxing News, Boxing Social and Global Boxing News. His boxing articles have been published in Boxing News Magazine, national newspapers, plus many other major news outlets.

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