Premier League
Football Tips
West Ham United vs Aston Villa – 5.30pm GMT
The Julen Lopetegui era at West Ham United begins on Saturday evening when the Hammers welcome Aston Villa to the London Stadium for their opening fixture of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
August 2012 was the last time that these two teams butted heads in an opening Premier League fixture, with the Hammers claiming a slender 1-0 victory at Upton Park. We see that trend continuing today.
Our Picks:
West Ham to win @7/5
BetBuilder:
West Ham to win
BTTS
Over 8 Corners
Both teams to receive 2 Cards
Villa over 0.5 Offsides
Total Odds @12/1
Team News:
West Ham will be without midfielder Edson Alvarez, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury sustained on international duty with Mexico at the 2024 Copa America, while Kurt Zouma’s proposed move to UAE outfit Shabab Al-Ahli is in doubt after he failed a medical.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka only joined the Hammers on Tuesday and it seems unlikely that the right-back will be thrown straight into the starting lineup ahead of Vladimir Coufal. The same can be said for another recent recruit in Jean-Clair Todibo, but Max Kilman is in line to start at centre-back.
Guido Rodriguez, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug are three more new players who are in contention to make their debuts, while Lopetegui is expected to hand starts to the likes of Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen, who has been appointed West Ham’s new captain.
As for Aston Villa, Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are still on the road to recovery from serious knee injuries, while backup goalkeeper Robin Olsen is doubtful with a facial injury picked up in a pre-season match against RB Leipzig at the end of last month.
Diego Carlos has been linked with a move away from Villa so he is not expected to be involved on Saturday, meaning Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa could start together in central defence, while summer signing Ian Maatsen will be pushing to start at either right-back or left-back.
Amadou Onana has joined from Everton for around £50m and he could line up in a four-man midfield with John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and either Leon Bailey or Jacob Ramsey, while star striker Ollie Watkins did not play a single minute in pre-season following his heroics with England at Euro 2024, but he should be fit to start in attack with Morgan Rogers – West Ham-linked Jhon Duran is also in contention to play.
West Ham United predicted starting 11:
Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez; Bowen, Kudus, Paqueta; Fullkrug
Aston Villa predicted starting 11:
Martinez; Maatsen, Konsa, Torres, Moreno; Bailey, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn; Rogers; Watkins
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