West Ham host Aston Villa in the opening game of their 2024/2025 campaign, and both sides head into the contest with high ambitions and having been active in the transfer window so far.
The Hammers in particular have brought in a fair few players to bolster the squad as they look to improve on last season’s ninth place finish.
Match Preview
West Ham United
West Ham have spent the money during the summer transfer window, with the likes of Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka all coming in to strengthen the backline.
West Ham Recent Form
West Ham will be starting their Premier League campaign after a pretty mixed pre-season, where they showed promise but also exposed some areas for improvement.
Under the new management of Julen Lopetegui, West Ham is in a transitional phase, adapting to a more possession-based style of play.
The Hammers are adapting to a new possession-based style under new manager Julen Lopetegui, and with the arrival of quite a few new players they’ll be trying to navigate a transitional phase on multiple fronts.
West Ham Injury News
No significant injuries have been reported for West Ham as of writing, which allows Lopetegui to deploy a full-strength squad in their opening Premier League match.
Aston Villa
Villa managed a historic fourth place finish in the Premier League last season, and the additions of Amadou Onana (£50m, Everton), Ian Maatsen (£38m, Chelsea), Samuel Iling-Junior (£12m, Juventus), Lewis Dobbin (£9m, Everton), Enzo Barrachenea (£7m, Juventus), Ross Barkley (£5m, Luton Town), Cameron Archer (£14m, Sheffield United) and Jaden Philogene (£13m, Hull City) will bolster the squad that will now need to compete domestically and in Europe.
Aston Villa Recent Form
Aston Villa, fresh from their historic fourth-place finish last season, will be fighting on more fronts this season with the Champions League being the major new addition to their schedule.
Villa proved during the 23/24 season that they could be one of the most…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/news/west-ham-vs-aston-villa-preview-premier-league/5546
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Jake Skudder)
Publish date : 2024-08-15 08:44:01
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