West Ham United welcome Aston Villa to London Stadium this weekend with both sides arriving from very different places in the table. West Ham are still in the relegation places, while Villa are firmly in the title picture near the summit.
West Ham’s last game in any competition was the 1–1 draw away at Manchester United on Thursday 4 December, where Soungoutou Magassa’s late equaliser earned Nuno Espírito Santo’s side a point but left them still inside the bottom three. Their league form has been a concern for most of the campaign, and even when performances have improved in spells under Nuno, they have struggled to turn matches into wins with enough regularity to climb clear.
Aston Villa’s last game in any competition was a major statement: the 2–1 win over league leaders Arsenal on Saturday 6 December, sealed by Emiliano Buendía’s stoppage-time winner. That result kept Unai Emery’s side second in the table on 30 points from 15 matches and continued a run of nine wins in ten league games.
In terms of squad availability, the broad expectation is that both sides come into this one close to full strength, which should allow the managers to lean on familiar structures rather than patchwork solutions.
Tactically, West Ham will likely try to make this a controlled, disciplined home performance — compact without the ball, aggressive in key duels, and direct when chances open up to release runners quickly. Villa, under Emery, have shown they can win games in different ways: controlling spells through midfield, defending stubbornly when needed, and striking with real purpose in transitions. Their confidence is high after the Arsenal win, but this is also the kind of fixture where concentration is tested — especially against a West Ham side that will see it as an opportunity to change the mood around their season.
The key contest may come down to whether West Ham can disrupt Villa’s rhythm in midfield and force the game into uncomfortable moments, or whether Villa’s structure and momentum allow them to settle early and play on their terms. Set pieces and second balls also feel important here — the kind of details that often decide matches when one side is fighting for points and the other is protecting a position near the top.
For West Ham, the stakes are immediate: points are needed to pull out of the bottom three and reduce the pressure that comes with every fixture at this end of the table.
For Aston Villa, it’s about sustaining their chase, backing up a huge result against Arsenal, and proving they can keep collecting points even when the spotlight grows brighter.
