Aston Villa v West Ham: Can Villa escape the bottom three?
Aston Villa were given a huge boost yesterday as fellow relegation battlers QPR, Wigan and Reading all lost, meaning victory today could see them jump out of the drop zone. But standing in their way is a West Ham side looking to win the battle of claret and blue.
Paul Lambert has endured a horrific past few weeks - hammered in the league and knocked out of both cup competitions - but is there light at the end of the tunnel? Last weekend they should have left Everton with all three points. They were 3-1 up at Goodison. Not many teams find themselves in that position. But there old defensive frailities cost them dearly.
West Ham will be looking to exploit Villa's defensive weaknesses with the height and strength of Andy Carroll. The on-loan Liverpool man looked full of beans against Swansea and will be looking to get a good few games and goals under his belt between now and the end of the season.
Aston Villa haven't won in eight league games and conceded a whopping 29 times in the process. If they lose today they will equal their top flight record club record five-match home losing streak set in 1963.
West Ham are on course to do the double over Villa for the first time since 2005-06. Can they get the job done or will Villa's miraculous escape act start now? Our pundits have their say.
Aston Villa v West Ham; Kick Off 1.30pm February 10 2013
Prediction Panel
|
Arsenal |
Josh Ben Moshe |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Aston Villa |
Frank Pattison |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Chelsea |
Apoorva Ankur |
0 |
V |
3 |
|
Everton |
Chris Goodwin |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Fulham |
Neil Springate |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Liverpool |
Dave Disciascio |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Man City |
Callum Rothwell |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Man United |
Peter Johnstone |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Newcastle |
Greg Hall |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Norwich |
Sue Read |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
QPR |
John Jaycock |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Reading |
Jon Keen |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Southampton |
Andy Saunders |
0 |
V |
3 |
|
Stoke City |
Peter Holland |
3 |
V |
1 |
|
Sunderland |
Tony Ratton |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Swansea |
Jim Barry |
3 |
V |
2 |
|
Spurs |
Adam Crawford |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
West Brom |
Andy Wakeman |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
West Ham |
Matt Beeby |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Wigan |
Jimmy Shine |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUR EXPERTS |
|
|
|
|
|
Writer |
Colin Illingworth |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Writer |
Steve Coulter |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Hugh Larkin |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Mitch Waddon |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Chris Pettitt |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Sarshar Hosseinnia |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Blackburn fan |
Terry Kennedy |
1 |
V |
0 |
|
Bolton fan |
David Blackburn |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Boro fan |
Sue Gardener |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Pompey fan |
Dan Taylor |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Pompey fan |
Peter Rendle |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
West Ham fan |
Nigel Telfer |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Wolves fan |
Chris Cox |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Editor |
Antony Melvin |
2 |
V |
1 |
Panel Verdict
Too close to call.
Home: 8; Draw: 10; Away: 13. TBA 3.
* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d love to hear from you.
