West Ham United v Aston Villa
Premier League, Villa Park, Sunday 28 August 2022, 2pm BST
West Ham United will seek a first win of the new Premier League season when we travel to Villa Park on Sunday.
The Hammers come into the match off the back of a convincing 3-0 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round second-leg win at Viborg FF on Thursday evening – a result which secured our placed in the group stage – and will hope to take that European form into the domestic schedule.
David Moyes' side have lost to Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion without scoring, but that midweek victory in Denmark should lift confidence in front of goal ahead of a trip to Birmingham.
Sunday’s hosts picked up their first league win against Everton a fortnight ago, but that came either side of two defeats by AFC Bournemouth and Crystal Palace.
Steven Gerrard’s side were beaten home and away by Moyes' men last season, with the corresponding fixture at Villa Park ending 4-1 in West Ham's favour last October.
Tickets...
The first 90% of tickets sold out to Bondholders and Season Ticket Holders with 24 or more Points. The remaining 10% (296 tickets) were then made available via a ballot to Season Ticket Holders who had yet to purchase for this fixture. The ballot will closed at 12pm on Friday 5 August.
A limited number of Accessibility Tickets are still available. Full prices can be found here. Please call our Ticket Office team on 0333 030 0174 or email [email protected]. Personal Assistants are issued free of charge.
Seats are on General Sale for our home Premier League fixture with Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and available via the Ticket Exchange for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday 31 August. Click here to buy your tickets now!
How To Follow…
Sunday's match will not be broadcast live on television in the UK. However, you can listen to live commentary in the UK on BBC Radio London 94.9fm.
You can also follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle.
Travel...
The address for your sat nav is Villa Park, Trinity Rd, Birmingham, B6 6HE. However, there is next to no parking available and a traffic exclusion zone is imposed around the stadium on matchdays from two hours prior to kick-off until 30-60 minutes after the final whistle.
Official parking is available at Aston Social Club in Aston Hall Road (postcode B6 7JU) and Powerleague Birmingham in Lichfield Road (postcode B6 7TG).
Any disabled supporters should contact our Disabled Liaison Officer on 0333 323 1874 for information on disabled parking. Parking needs to be booked in advance of the match.
For those travelling by train, the nearest stations are Witton and Aston, both of which are on lines from Birmingham New Street. Trains from London Euston to New Street leave at 07.50, 08.23, 08.49, 09.46 and 10.49.After the game, direct services leave New Street at 16.30, 16.53, 17.10, 17.30 and 17.53.
Team News...
New signing Emerson Palmieri could make his West Ham United debut, while captain Declan Rice is available again after serving the second game of his two-match European suspension in midweek.
Czech right-back Vladimír Coufal could be in contention again after missing the trip to Denmark due to suffering concussion in last Sunday's home defeat by Brighton.
Thursday night goalscorer Gianluca Scamacca is pushing for a first Premier League start, as is Ivorian winger Maxwel Cornet, with both impressing in Viborg.
Morocco international Nayef Aguerd is out with an ankle injury, but his fellow centre-back Craig Dawson is getting closer to making his return from injury.
For Aston Villa, left-back Ludwig Augustinsson, who faced West Ham with Sevilla in last season's UEFA Europa League, is a doubt with a knee issue, while Diego Carlos, who was also with the Spanish club last season but missed the two legs through injury, is sidelined again with a long-term Achilles injury.
Opposition..
Sunday’s opponents are often referred to as 'Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa', such is the standing of the former Liverpool player in the Premier League Hall of Fame.
A battling box-to-box midfielder, Gerrard made over 500 Premier League appearances for the Reds, scoring 121 goals in the top-flight.
Hammers fans will of course remember Gerrard’s infamous brace in the 2006 FA Cup final.
Now in the Villa dugout, the Whiston-born 42-year-old had previously guided Rangers to their first Scottish title in a decade and the last-16 of the UEFA Europa League.
He won his first match as a Premier League boss with a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in November 2021, but found injuries hamper a push for a top-ten finish in his first campaign in the Midlands.
Two defeats from the opening three Premier League matches this term have not made for the ideal start, but Villa did put four goals past EFL League One club Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup second round in midweek to build confidence ahead of the Irons' visit.
Previous Meetings...
David Moyes’ men will be buoyed by their recent record against Aston Villa, as the Hammers have won the last four matches and have not fallen to defeat to Villa since May 2015 – our only loss in the last 12 meetings.
Our most recent trip to Aston Villa saw the Hammers hit four in October 2021. Ben Johnson, Declan Rice, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen all netted, while Ollie Watkins struck a sole reply for the ten-man hosts, who lost Ezri Konsa to a red card early in the second half.
West Ham have won the last four Premier League matches against Villa by an aggregate score line of 11-4.
Match Officials...
Referee: David Coote
Assistant referees: Nick Hopton & Timothy Wood
Fourth official: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Michael Salisbury
Assistant VAR: Simon Bennett
David Coote is Sunday’s referee.
Affiliated to the Nottinghamshire FA, David Coote began refereeing at the age of 16 and worked his way up through the Notts Alliance League, Northern Counties East Football League, the Northern Premier League and the Conference North.
He was promoted to the Football League List of assistant referees in 2006, and again to the referees’ list in 2010. Coote refereed the 2014 League One Play-Off final at Wembley, which saw Rotherham United defeat Leyton Orient.
The official, whose father played cricket for Nottinghamshire, was appointed to the Select Group of Premier League officials in the summer of 2018.
He has taken charge of seven West Ham United matches in the Premier League, the most recent of which was a goalless draw at Southampton in September 2021.
