West Ham United head into Sunday's Premier League fixture against Aston Villa having suffered three defeats in succession in all competitions.
While the Hammers are currently in sixth position in the standings, they only hold a nine-point lead over their next opponents, Villa having played one game fewer and winning three matches in a row.
Match preview
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At the beginning of March, David Moyes had his sights set on winning at least one piece of silverware and securing Champions League football through the Premier League.
Although both of those aims remain possible, West Ham are now out of the FA Cup, behind in their Europa League tie with Sevilla and three points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal having played three games more than the Gunners.
Moyes will insist that his Hammers side will continue to take every match in isolation, but they desperately require a response against an in-form Villa side at the weekend.
West Ham's losing streak should not particularly come as a surprise with each of their three wins from 10 matches coming by the narrowest of margins.
On a more positive note, West Ham have taken seven points from their last three games at the London Stadium, their most recent victory coming by a 1-0 scoreline against Wolverhampton Wanderers on February 27.
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While goals have been in short supply for West Ham, the same cannot be said of Villa who have netted nine times during their last three top-flight fixtures.
Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton and Leeds United have been dispatched with minimal fuss, Philippe Coutinho receiving most of the plaudits with his performances in the final third.
The Barcelona loanee now has four goals and three assists from his eight Premier League outings, but manager Steven Gerrard will be equally impressed with his backline.
Three clean sheets have been recorded in succession, and it has contributed to Villa moving into the conversation for the European places given their game in hand on West Ham and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In the reverse fixture back on October 31, Villa succumbed by a 4-1 scoreline, a result which led to Dean Smith being removed from his role in the dugout a week later.
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Team News
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Having returned from illness to play 90 minutes against Sevilla, Declan Rice will likely be assessed ahead of this contest.
Mark Noble is on standby if Moyes decides to make a change, but Jarrod Bowen is again expected to miss out with a heel injury.
Said Benrahma should replace either Nikola Vlasic or Pablo Fornals on the flank.
Barring any unforeseen injury issues, Gerrard may see no reason to make any changes to his Villa XI after the 3-0 win at Leeds.
Emiliano Buendia is most likely to come into the side as a replacement for Danny Ings or Ollie Watkins, with Calum Chambers keeping his place in the middle of defence.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Johnson, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Benrahma, Lanzini, Fornals; Antonio
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Chambers, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey; Coutinho; Ings, Watkins
We say: West Ham United 2-2 Aston Villa
Despite West Ham sitting higher in the table, there is an argument that Villa are the marginal favourites ahead of this contest. Nevertheless, West Ham have been playing well without converting their chances, and if everything comes together at the weekend, we can see an entertaining draw being played out in the capital.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a West Ham United win with a probability of 40.66%. A win for Aston Villa had a probability of 31.79% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.38%) and 2-0 (7.57%). The likeliest Aston Villa win was 0-1 (10.08%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.99%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that West Ham United would win this match.
