West Ham United will close out the 2019-2020 season at the London Stadium against relegation-threatened Aston Villa.
The season has been full of ups and down for West Ham. Overall it will be remembered for the highs against Chelsea and Manchester United, rather than the defeat to Oxford United. The Hammers have ended the season brilliantly, losing only one of their last six matches.
Most recently West Ham earned a good point against Champions League-chasing Manchester United. Michail Antonio grabbed his tenth goal of the season and his eighth since the restart from the penalty spot. The converted forward could very well be the frontrunner for the player of the month after his recent form.
Aston Villa beat an out of sorts Arsenal side 1-0 at Villa Park on Tuesday night. The win was enough to drag the West Midlands side out of the bottom three and give them a glimmer of Premier League survival.
Villa will need to match or better the results of Bournemouth and Watford in order to stay in the league. The Villians do have an advantage over their rivals due to their narrowly better goal difference.
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David Moyes will be sweating on the fitness of Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell. Both the Englishmen took heavy blows against United which lead to their substitutions. It would seem reckless to risk players fitness in the match against Villa considering West Ham have little to play for.
This could prompt chances for Arthur Masuaku and Felipe Anderson. Masuaku has not started a game for the Hammers since before lockdown. Whereas, Anderson has been missing from action since his injury before the Chelsea match.
The match will also be Tomas Soucek’s first as a full West Ham United player. The club confirmed his permanent signing after the club secured their Premier League status. David Moyes had this to say about Soucek.
"“When I came in, we talked about needing another midfield player, to help Declan Rice and Mark Noble, and I think he’s been a really good fit for us. “He’s a terrific lad with very good physical capabilities. He has scored some really important goals for us, against Chelsea, Newcastle and Watford. “We’re glad he’s going to be a West Ham player for a good period to come.”"
He's here to stay! ✊ #Soucek2024 pic.twitter.com/tUxAtRRoDT
— West Ham United (@WestHam) July 24, 2020
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has very few new injury concerns going into Villa’s biggest game of the season. Smith will continue to be without Neil Taylor, Tom Heaton and Wesley who are all injured with long-term issues. Bjorn Engels will also miss out for the Villians with an Achilles problem.
It is more than likely Smith will keep the same line-up that has dragged Villa from the edge of relegation to almost surviving. Villa has been on good form recently, winning seven points from their last three games.