Better late than never, this Sunday finally brings us the climax of the longest Premier League season on record, and our experts are here to provide you with the best betting tips for the final match day. We’re focussing on East London as Villa look to complete an unlikely great escape.
We’ve taken a look at the facts, the figures and past meetings between these two sides to come up with our prediction for one, however with victory meaning more to one side than the other, motivation will be a key factor in our prediction.
Moyes leads West Ham to safety again
Two convincing victories of relegation candidates Watford and Norwich plus an impressive draw against Manchester United mean that West Ham have secured Premier League football for next season ahead of the final day. This time round, it looks like the club will reward manager David Moyes with a proper contract and a chance to take the club forward, as opposed to last time he led them to safety, when he was let go and replaced by Manuel Pelligrini. Despite having nothing to play for, The Irons will be looking to end the season on a high and lay down marker for next season’s campaign.
Villa could make a surprise great escape
Less than two weeks ago, Villa’s fans, players and backroom staff seemed to have all but accepted relegation as an inevitability. The Lions have picked up 7 points from their last 3, including a shock win against Arsenal midweek, which combined with Watford losing their last 2 means escape from relegation is in their own hands. Technically, they could still go down with a win should Watford beat Arsenal by 10 goals, but that’s an unrealistic possibility. Sealing the great escape would provide a fairytale ending for local lad Jack Grealish who looks certain to leave his boyhood club in the summer.
If there’s one thing this fixture hasn’t produced much of in recent years, it’s goals. The reverse fixture this season served up a drab 0-0 at Villa Park, where the only highlight was a 2nd yellow card and sending off for Arthur Masuaku. Prior to that encounter, the sides hadn’t met since 2016 thanks to Villa spending 3 seasons in the Championship, and to find a game where more than 3 goals were scored, you have to go all the way back to Villa’s 2-1 home win in 2013.
Brand
Below, our experts have provided a list containing the last 5 results between West Ham and Aston Villa, as well as 3 statistical highlights we’ve used in order to come up with our prediction for this Sunday’s showdown.
West Ham vs. Aston Villa
16/09/19
Villa Park | Aston Villa: 0 vs West Ham: 0 | Premier League
02/02/16
London Stadium | West Ham: 2 vs Aston Villa: 0 | Premier League
26/12/15
Villa Park | Aston Villa: 1 vs West Ham: 1 | Premier League
09/05/15
Villa Park | Aston Villa: 1 vs West Ham: 0 | Premier League
08/11/14
London Stadium | West Ham: 0 vs Aston Villa: 0 | Premier League
Highlight #1
There have only been 5 goals in the last 5 games between these sides
Highlight #2
There have been 3 draws in the last 5 meetings
Highlight #3
Each side has won 1 game in the last 5
Our Betting Tip for Today
We’ve analysed the above information and taken the importance of the occasion to Villa into account, and by hook or by crook we expect them to do it.
Villa will seal the great escape
Given that Villa themselves are in this position thanks to a 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Tuesday night, Dean Smith’s side won’t be confident in relying on the Gunners to beat Watford to seal their safety. With that motivational factor in mind, we’re backing a Villa win on Sunday.
How will it happen? Who knows. Past meetings point to a low scoring encounter, but Villa may throw caution to the wind to get this done and West Ham have been free scoring in recent games. It’s a game where form could most certainly go out the window and any number of players could score, but if we had to pick a goal scorer, it would be home town hero Jack Grealish.
Our betting tip for this match is a Villa win with both teams to score, which can be placed with SkyBet on odds of 3.75.
