West Ham United FC v Aston Villa

Barclays Premier League
Venue: Upton Park Date: Saturday, 16 April Kick-off: 1500 BST
Coverage: Watch highlights on Match of the Day; listen on BBC Radio 5 live, local radio and Absolute Radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles

TEAM NEWS

Kieron Dyer could be involved for West Ham on Saturday after returning from a loan spell at Ipswich.

Midfielder Jack Collison is unlikely to be involved as he steps up his fitness after 13 months of injury problems.

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has the entire squad at his disposal and is expected to name an unchanged side.

Ashley Young will reach the milestone of 250 career league appearances, and Gabriel Agbonlahor could start for the 200th time in his club career.

West Ham

Doubtful: Collison (fitness)

Injured: Kurucz (knee), Stanislas (hernia)

Aston Villa

Injured: None

MATCH PREVIEW

West Ham have promoted this game as a celebration of Britishness, but it's been no picnic for either side this season.

It's in our hands, but we've got to improve massively on Saturday's performance [the 3-0 defeat at Bolton]

Thomas Hitzslperger, West Ham

Despite boasting some of the cream of the nation's talent, West Ham and Aston Villa have too often left their fans feeling as sick as if they had eaten a dodgy prawn sandwich.

Before kick-off, patriotic flags will be distributed to supporters to raise awareness for the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research. Moore would have been 70 this week and The Hammers are hoping to draw inspiration from the tribute to their most famous son, having slipped back into the bottom three following successive heavy defeats. Their need for a win on Saturday is heightened by daunting trips to Chelsea and Manchester City in their next two fixtures.

Villa have badly underperformed since their champagne display against West Ham on the opening day of the campaign. Gerard Houllier's side are targeting two more wins to preserve their top-flight status, having moved five points clear of danger following their nervy victory over Newcastle last weekend.

Saturday's game will also be tense. There is a history of people losing their heads in east London - who keeps theirs at the Boleyn Ground could be the key to survival.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• West Ham's only win in the last nine meetings came at home in November 2009 (W1, D4, L4).

• Seven of the last 10 matches between these sides at Upton Park have been drawn.

• Aston Villa are looking to complete the league double over West Ham for the first time since 1983-84.

West Ham

• They are winless in their last three matches, losing the last two.

• Five of their seven league victories this season have come against bottom-half opposition. They have lost only three of 14 matches against these sides.

• The Hammers have earned 19 points at Upton Park this season - only Blackpool (15) have a worse home record in the division.

• Thomas Hitzlsperger made 99 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa from 2000 to 2005.

• Matthew Upson will be making his 300th career league appearance, two days before his 32nd birthday.

Aston Villa

• Villa are looking to win consecutive matches for only the second time this season. They are also looking to keep back-to-back clean sheets for the first time in a year.

• They have dropped 23 points from winning positions, the equal-most in the Premier League along with Sunderland.

• Gerard Houllier's side have conceded in each of their last 17 away league matches.

• They are the only club this season without a Premier League goal by a substitute, according to Infostrada.

LEADING GOALSCORERS

Carlton Cole

West Ham

Cole: 11 goals (5 league); Piquionne: 9 goals (6 league)

Darren Bent

Aston Villa

Bent: 16 goals* (13 league); A Young: 8 goals (6 league)

* Bent scored 11 goals (8 league) for Sunderland.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Michael Oliver

Assistant referees: Mike Cairns & Simon Long

Fourth official: Andy D'Urso

LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS

West Ham (L0-3 v Bolton, a): Green; Tomkins, da Costa, Upson (Jacobsen 46), Bridge, Noble, Parker (Spector 76), Hitzlsperger, Piquionne (Cole 46), Keane, Ba. Subs not used: Boffin, Gabbidon, O'Neil, Obinna.

Aston Villa (W1-0 v Newcastle, h): Friedel; Walker (Cuellar 78), Dunne, Collins, L Young, Downing, Petrov, Makoun (Reo-Coker 67), A Young, Agbonlahor (Pires 86), Bent. Subs not used: Marshall, Albrighton, Heskey, Clark.


Well peeps this has got to be a descent win cos the next two are gonna be tuff , theres a lot of teams in this big bucket of shit this season , any chance of a " Great Escape " West Ham FFS

Tony P has said on fb that Parker is out for tomorrows game, so much doom and gloom is decending on East London. :affraid:

Hopefully, we can play O'Neill, Noble and Hitz as our three and go with Ba, Obinna and Cole/Piquioone? up front..........................and prya the defence turns up this week. :affraid:

Another must win game for Greenback

Feel sick :|

jiggs wrote:Feel sick :|

All day or is it just in the mornings

West Ham United starting XI - Green, Jacobsen, Bridge, Da Costa, Upson, O'Neil, Noble, Hitzlsperger, Obinna, Keane, Cole West Ham United subs - Boffin, Gabbidon, Spector, Boa Morte, Hines, Piquionne, Ba

Dont know what Noble was thinking but it did look like a dodgy tackle , we have to win this West Ham FFS

They are all over us according to Sky.
Chris Kamara said god knows what
was said at half time.

I am so pissed off , is it just the fans that care about WH

Not a lot to say is there? We let a nervy Villa settle & find their stride. Gave the ball away far too much & seemed to completely lack enthusiasm to win that game. Stating the bleeding obvious but it's not a good time to go on losing run. There are - found something to say & it was almost as crap as our performance.

I,m lost for words JK , Mrs G is doing me a sunday roast on a Saturday to cheers me up , not looking forward to going over now for the last game , but fcuk it , party time in the supps club " we love you WH we do "

Only one with any bollicks was Keane....The rest were just a bunch of pansies, out for a stroll in the park......absolute waste of space.

Your home early darling , on a promise

Maybe it was just me but I think Keane spends most of his time running around waving his arms in the air for handballs or fouls that the referee is clearly not going to give. Like an Irish dancer who has had his body reversed - lots of action top half & not much down below. But to be fair he was no more feeble than the rest of them. Villa were shaky to say the least at the beginning & were ready to implode if we got at them. Instead we let them find their feet & end up looking like a steady PL side. No bollix in our side that's for sure. A chance for some of our boys to show they don't need Parker to perform but they come up short.

Dunne should have been sent off. If Halsey hadn't bottled it, it would have completely changed the game.

On a positive note


21 Crystal Palace 42 -23 43
22 Scunthorpe 42 -39 40
23 Preston 42 -21 39
24 Sheff Utd 42 -33 35

I agree with that. The ref indicated it was shoulder to shoulder but that was a deliberate push as CC reached the ball. I thought CC was giving their centre backs a bit of a chasing first half, bit like first half v ManU but he doesn't seem to have the energy or willpower to keep it up for 90, although by the 2nd half he wasn't getting anything ball to play with.

There has been a lot of dodgy decisions this season that have gone against us , yesterday as many have said , Dunne should have walked , it really is not good enuff in the Premier League , there is so much at stake and I personally think we have had our fair share this season that could have seen us a bit higher in the league but then again you need the team to turn up , every week and they have,nt . Supporting WH is not easy , I,d bet my bollix thats the reason my hair went grey too early , I am still pissed awf regarding yesterdays shit 2nd half performance , it is gonna take a miracle now for us to stay up , start praying peeps

Geezer wrote:

jiggs wrote:Feel sick :|

All day or is it just in the mornings

Hehe..... Oooops, I'm too old aint I ? :shock:

Geezer wrote:Your home early darling , on a promise

Unfortunately not ....... Max was though

jiggs wrote:

Geezer wrote:

jiggs wrote:Feel sick :|

All day or is it just in the mornings

Hehe..... Oooops, I'm too old aint I ? :shock:

Geezer wrote:Your home early darling , on a promise

Unfortunately not ....... Max was though

Never mind , Max on a promise ? what with his left hand