Prediction & odds for the game: West Ham (5/4) v Aston Villa (2/1) – ST is backing the home win

When: Monday, 30th November @ 8pm K.O

Where: London Stadium

West Ham United and Aston Villa will meet in the claret & blue derby as both attempt to continue their strong start to the season.

West Ham

While David Moyes will probably never be known as a top, world class manager again, nobody can deny the impact he’s been able to have with West Ham United so far this season. There have been a few issues off the pitch that have been clear for everyone to see, but we’re talking about a team that was considered to be one of the favourites for relegation. Now, a win over Villa tomorrow night could potentially take them as high as fifth place in the table.

One thing fans have come to discover about West Ham this season is that they’re actually really hard to beat. Back at the start of October they surprised a lot of people by tearing through Leicester, and they followed that up with consecutive draws against Tottenham and Manchester City. They did lose out to champions Liverpool but they played them close, and in November, they’re running on a perfect record after wins against Fulham and Sheffield United.

Aston Villa

It has been an absolute rollercoaster ride for Aston Villa fans this season, and yet while they’ve had some struggles, they’re still starting to look like a team that will be fighting for a place in the top half between now and the end of the campaign. Dean Smith deserves a lot of credit for that but so does Jack Grealish, mainly because it’s so rare to see a talisman like him have such an overwhelming influence at this level.

Nobody will ever forget the historic 7-2 win over Liverpool – and they shouldn’t, because we may not see a result like that again for a long time. Smith’s men followed that up with a nice win against Leicester, although they did fall off the track for a few weeks after defeats against Leeds and Southampton. They bounced back with a huge 3-0 win over Arsenal, only to cause a few more raised eyebrows in a defeat to Brighton.

Conclusion

This is going to be the definition of a tough game to call because while Villa should have enough to cause West Ham some damage, they’ve had a few big stumbles over the course of the last few weeks. As such, we’re expecting the Hammers to go out there and play with the same surprising composure that we’ve seen from them all season, and we do think they’ll be the ones to come away with the three points.

Our official prediction is 2-1 which would ensure the over 2.5 goals market is met.

Verdict: Back the home win at odds of 5/4 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 4/6 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on West Ham vs Aston Villa then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures at the soccer predictions page ahead of what is bound to be a thrilling few months of Premier League action.