Friday 21 November 2014

Everton vs West Ham United

Saturday 22nd November 2014
15:00
Goodison Park

Everton vs West Ham United

Analysis
It feels like far longer than a fortnight, but finally the Premier League is back after the international break.

Both West Ham and this weekend's opposition, Everton, have fallen victim to a host of injuries to key players over the past two weeks - so much so, that Saturday's game will be something of a who's who of missing players.

Key Player
Whilst West Ham are almost likely to be without key players Stewart Downing, Diafra Sakho, Winston Reid and Alex Song, Everton themselves have an injury list that currently runs to 11 players potentially out of this game.

Fortunately for the Toffees though, the one man West Ham would have hoped to miss the game is fit and healthy. We all remember what Romelu Lukaku did to us in his two appearances against the Hammers last year, but I'll bring it up again just for the sake of being a sadist.

Across two games, the Belgian played just 77 minutes against West Ham, but managed 6 shots, 6 attempted take ons, and scored two decisive goals after the 80 minute mark.

The two images below show Lukaku's heat maps from those two games. Left is the home 3-2 defeat, and right is the away 1-0 loss. You can see in both that Lukaku got heavily involved in both games despite only have short cameos from the bench. 

http://epl.squawka.com/west-ham-united-vs-everton/
http://epl.squawka.com/everton-vs-west-ham-united/

How do you stop Everton?
Everton may have had a slightly rocky start to the season, but in the last couple of months they have been getting back to their best, particularly at Goodison Park. As we know from experience, Goodison is not an easy place to visit, and not many teams come away with anything to show for their efforts.

Having said that, in their last home game, Everton could only manage a goalless draw with Swansea City.

People might initially think that there is little point in West Ham looking to Swansea's result for inspiration, giving the differing styles of play the two sides have. We aren't really a long ball side (particularly this season), but Swansea have been championed as the tika-taka kings of Britain.

However, when you actually look at that game, you'll notice that the Swans had a pass completion rate of just 78%, and managed just 40% possession. What Swansea actually did, is defend aggressively - something West Ham are more than capable of!

During the game, Swansea made 42 clearances, 18 interceptions, blocked 5 shots, and - perhaps most importantly - put in 47 tackles.

Under Roberto Martinez, Everton have become known for their slick passing style, running with the ball, and generally being easy on the eye. Any team that likes to knock the ball about struggle when bodies are being flung left right and centre.

The image below shows Swansea's attempted tackles. They only won 34% of their tackles, but that doesn't really matter. It's about disrupting play, closing down ball players, committing fouls if necessary.

http://epl.squawka.com/everton-vs-swansea-city/

And Swansea aren't the only team to adopt this approach to find success at Goodison. Since the start of last season, Everton have played 24 home games, winning 14, drawing 5 and losing 5.

What is interesting, is that when Everton fail to win, the number of tackles put in by the opposition is greater than when the Toffees do win. The chart below shows the average number of tackles by the opposition team by Everton result.

As you can see, when Everton win at home, the opposition attempt an average of 35 tackles per game, compared to 43 for an away victory. Of course, putting in tackles doesn't mean you're going to come away from Goodison with anything other than a disappointing drive home, but what it does suggest is that the Toffees struggle when they aren't afforded time on the ball.


Weakness
Picking a weakness for Everton is pretty difficult. Martinez's side are a well oiled machine, with each member knowing his job inside out, and executing it very well. What does have the potential to weaken them though, is an injury list as long as your arm.

Lots of their injured players are expected to have late fitness tests, and many will be fit for the game, but the potential absences of Seamus Coleman, Leighton Baines and Bryan Oviedo means the only fit, experienced fullback in the squad is veteran Tony Hibbert.

Should Coleman and Baines miss out, the Everton side will be weakened considerably. The flying fullbacks have created 36 chances, collected 7 assists, and scored 4 goals in the Premier League this season. And on top of that, they've also made 89 defensive actions.

Hibbert isn't the worst back up in the world, with 325 Everton games under his belt, and capable of filling in at both right and left fullback. However, he is a significant step down in quality from the two regulars, and has only managed 9 league games since the start of the 2012/13 season.

Conclusion
Everton away is a tough nut to crack at the best of times, but when you're missing a number of your best players, the task gets significantly harder.

The saving grace for West Ham may be that Everton are likely to be missing a least a few of their own key men. Also, the fact that defending with your life is a key part of getting something from Goodison could mean our gameplan may still have the right men to be effective.

 Head to Head 
51% Head to Head Win % 28%
65 Won 36
27 Drawn 27
36 Lost 65
219 Goals Scored 148
148 Goals Conceded 219

 Recent Form (excl. Friendlies) 
W D W D W D Last 6 L W W W D D
10 Goals Scored 10
2 Goals Conceded 6
  
L W L W D W Home/Away Form L W D L W D
15 Goals Scored 11
10 Goals Conceded 10
  
 Form Player (excl. GK) 
 (Last 6 League) 
Phil Jagielka - James Collins
6 Appearances 4
540 Minutes Played 360
  
302 Sum Squawka Performance Score 103
50 Average Squawka Performance Rating 26
  
363 Passes Attempted 122
333 Completed 76
92% Success Rate 62%
  
1 Chances Created 1
0 Assists 0
  
5 Attempts on Goal 2
3 On Target 1
2 Goals 0

3 Take Ons Attempted 0
3 Successful Take Ons 0
100% Success Rate 0%
  
13 Tackles Made 18
7 Successful Tackles 5
54% Success Rate 28%
  
8 Interceptions 14
45 Clearances 56
4 Blocks 8
10 Defensive Actions Per Game 20
  
15 Aerial Duels 27
12 Won 22
80% Success Rate 81%

0 Defensive Errors 0
0 Leading to a Goal 0
  
 Last Meeting 
01 March 2014
1-0 Romelu Lukaku 81'
  
4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1

Tim Howard - Adrián
Seamus Coleman - Guy Demel (80')
John Stones - James Collins
Sylvain Distin - James Tomkins
Leighton Baines - George McCartney
James McCarthy - Mark Noble
Gareth Barry - Matthew Taylor
(73') Gerard Deulofeu - Stewart Downing
(59') Leon Osman - Kevin Nolan
Steven Pienaar - Matt Jarvis (66')
(85') Steven Naismith - Carlton Cole (29')

 Subs 
Joel Robles - Jussi Jääskeläinen
Ty Browning - Winston Reid (80')
Tony Hibbert - Pablo Armero
(85') Ross Barkley - Mohamed Diamé (66')
(73') Aiden McGeady - Antonio Nocerino
Kevin Mirallas - Joe Cole
(59') Romelu Lukaku - Andy Carroll (29')

 Absentees 
 Injured/Doubtful 
Everton: John Stones, Antolin Alcaraz, Seamus Coleman, Leighton Baines, Bryan Oviedo, Darron Gibson, James McCarthy, Gareth Barry, Steven Pienaar, Kevin Mirallas, Arouna Kone
West Ham United: Winston Reid, Guy Demel, Alex Song, Stewart Downing, Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia

 Suspensions 
Everton: 
West Ham United: 

  Opposition Last Time Out (League)
vs Sunderland
 Goals Scored: 1
 Goals Conceded: 2
 Starting Formation: 4-3-2-1

  Tim Howard

  Seamus Coleman  Phil Jagielka  Sylvain Distin  Leighton Baines

  James McCarthy  Gareth Barry (12')

  Aiden McGeady (69')  Samuel Eto'o  Ross Barkley (85')

  Romelu Lukaku

 subs:
Joel Robles
  Tony Hibbert
  Muhamed Besic
  Darron Gibson (12')
  Leon Osman (85')
  Christian Atsu
  Steven Naismith (69')
  
 Best Player: James McCarthy(SR: 8.55)
 Worst Player: Tim Howard(SR: 6.42)
  
 Top 5's (Min 5 Apps) 
 Goals Scored 
Steven Naismith 4 - 6 Diafra Sakho
Romelu Lukaku 4 - 3 Enner Valencia
Samuel Eto'o 3 - 2 Carlton Cole
Kevin Mirallas 2 - 2 Morgan Amalfitano
Seamus Coleman 2 - 2 Stewart Downing

 Assists 
Leighton Baines 6 - 4 Stewart Downing
Steven Pienaar 2 - 2 James Tomkins
Ross Barkley 1 - 2 Aaron Cresswell
Leon Osman 1 - 2 Enner Valencia
Aiden McGeady 1 - 1 Mauro Zárate

 Passing Accuracy 
Phil Jagielka 92% - 86% Mark Noble
John Stones 92% - 84% Stewart Downing
Sylvain Distin 91% - 83% Carl Jenkinson
Gareth Barry 89% - 83% Winston Reid
Kevin Mirallas 89% - 81% James Tomkins

 Chances Created per 90 
Leighton Baiens 2 - 2.73 Stewart Downing
Kevin Mirallas 1.9 - 1.37 Mark Noble
Aiden McGeady 1.37 - 1.29 Alex Song
Samuel Eto'o 1.35 - 1.27 Aaron Cresswell
Steven Naismith 1.19 - 0.99 Carlton Cole

 Successful Dribbles per 90 
Muhamed Besic 2.23 - 1.78 Enner Valencia
Steven Pienaar 2.11 - 0.97 Diafra Sakho
Seamus Coleman 1.83 - 0.94 Morgan Amalfitano
Kevin Mirallas 1.63 - 0.86 Alex Song
Romelu Lukaku 1.58 - 0.73 Stewart Downing

 Tackles Won per 90 
James McCarthy 2.3 - 2.86 Alex Song
Gareth Barry 1.88 - 2.58 Cheikhou Kouyaté
Seamus Coleman 1.7 - 2.29 Mark Noble
John Stones 1.69 - 1.88 Morgan Amalfitano
Leighton Baines 1.64 - 1.55 Carl Jenkinson

 Aerial Duels Won per 90 
Steven Naismith 2.82 - 5.35 James Collins
Sylvain Distin 2.23 - 3.71 James Tomkins
Phil Jagielka 2 - 3.62 Diafra Sakho
James McCarthy 1.8 - 3.22 Winston Reid
John Stones 1.7 - 3.15 Cheikhou Kouyaté

 Manager 
Roberto Martínez - Sam Allardyce
13/07/1973 DOB 19/10/1954
41 Age 60
  
 Playing Career 
Wigan Athletic Main Club Bolton Wanderers
226 Appearances 231
24 Goals 24
  
6 Total Clubs 9
427 Appearances 512
31 Goals 43
  
Spain National Team England
0 Caps 0
  
 Managerial Career 
Swansea City First Managerial Role Preston North End
24/02/2007 Start Date 30/09/1992
22y 1m 8d Experience 22y 1m 22d
  
3 Sides Managed 7
1 League Titles 2
1 Cup Wins 0
  
39.7% Win % 39.9%
144 Won 354
100 Drawn 232
118 Lost 301
  
 Longest Role (excl. Current) 
Wigan Athletic Club Bolton Wanderers
15/06/2009 Appointed 19/10/1999
05/06/2013 Left 29/04/2007
3y 11m 20d Time in Charge 7y 6m 9d

0 League Titles 0
1 Cup Wins 0
  
28.9% Win % 41.2%
51 Won 153
47 Drawn 104
78 Lost 114
  
 Current Club 
05/06/2013 Appointed 01/06/2011
1y 5m 17d Time in Charge 3y 5m 22d
  
0 League Titles 0
0 Cup Wins 0
  
50% Win % 39.8%
30 Won 59
16 Drawn 35
14 Lost 54

Monday 10 November 2014

West Ham United 0-0 Aston Villa

Saturday 8th November 2014
15:00
Boleyn Ground

West Ham United 0-0 Aston Villa

 General Play 
WhoScored Performance Rating 
4-1-2-1-2 Formation 4-3-2-1

(7) Adrián - Brad Guzan (8.5)
(7) Carl Jenkinson - Matthew Lowton (7.4)
(8.5) James Collins - Ron Vlaar (7.9)
(7.5) Winston Reid - Nathan Baker (7.6)
(7.1) Aaron Cresswell - Aly Cissokho (8)
(7) Mark Noble - Tom Cleverley (6.6)
(6.1) Cheikhou Kouyaté - Ashley Westwood (7.2)
(7) Alex Song - Carlos Sánchez (7.3)
(7.7) Stewart Downing - Charles N'Zogbia (6.4)
(6.7) Diafra Sakho - Andreas Weimann (6.4)
(6.3) Enner Valencia - Gabriel Agbonlahor (6.3)

(6.1) Kevin Nolan - Philippe Senderos (6.1)
(6.3) Carlton Cole - Ciaran Clark (6.2)
(6.4) Andy Carroll -                           

Best Performance
(8.5) James Collins - Brad Guzan (8.5)

Worst Performance
(6.1) Cheikhou Kouyaté - Philippe Senderos (6.1)

56% Possession 44%

413 Passes Attempted 310
Alex Song 69 Most Attempted 48 Ashley Westwood

78% Passing Accuracy 69%
61% In Opp. Half 56%
Stewart Downing 86% Best Accuracy (min. 15 passes) 85% Andreas Weimann

53 Long Balls 47
13% % Long Balls 15%
James Collins 12 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 9 Ashley Westwood

Most Frequent Pass Combination
Cresswell to Noble 12 - 11 Lowton to N'Zogbia

 23 Aerial Duels Won 9 
 72% Success 28% 
James Collins 8 Most Won 3 Nathan Baker

Alex Song 76 Most Touches 66 Ashley Westwood

 Offensive Play 
21 Attempts on Goal 12
5 On Target 4
7 Off Target 6
9 Blocked 2
24% From Outside the Box 58%
Stewart Downing 5 Most Shots 4 Gabriel Agbonlahor

17 Chances Created 7
Stewart Downing 6 Most Chances Created 2 Ashley Westwood

49 Crosses 15
Stewart Downing 17 Most Attempted 4 Aly Cissokho

12 Successful Crosses 2
24% Success 13%
Stewart Downing 6 Most Successful 1 Aly Cissokho

15 Take Ons Attempted 8
5 Successful Take Ons 6
33% Success 75%
Enner Valencia 2 Most Successful Take Ons 2 Charles N'Zogbia

 Defensive Play 
22 Tackles Attempted 26
7 Successful Tackles 14
32% Success 54%
James Collins 5 Most Tackles 6 Aly Cissokho

40 Clearances 64
Wisnton Reid 13 Most Clearances 18 Nathan Baker

14 Interceptions 17
Mark Noble 5 Most Interceptions 4 Matthew Lowton

2 Shot Blocks 9
Enner Valencia 1 Most Shot Blocks 3 Ashley Westwood

 Discipline 
 8 Fouls 10 
Kevin Nolan 2 Most Fouls 3 Charles N'Zogbia

0 Yellow Cards 2
West Ham United:     
Aston Villa:  Tom Cleverley,  Gabriel Agbonlahor  

0 Red Cards 0
West Ham United:     
Aston Villa:     

 Head to Heads 
Adrián vs Brad Guzan
7 WhoScored Rating 8.5

0 Goals Conceded 0
3 Saves 3
  
1 Claims 2
1 Successful Claims 2
100% Success 100%

21 Total Distribution 35
10 Accurate 13
48% Success 37%

10 Goal Kicks 13
4 Accurate 5
40% Success 38%
  
3 Throw Outs 3
3 Accurate 3
100% Success 100%

1 Kick from Hand 1
0 Accurate 0
0% Success 0%
  
7 Other 18
3 Accurate 5
43% Success 28%

0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0

Diafra Sakho 3 Most Passed To 5 Matthew Lowton
Winston Reid 2 Most Passes From 4 Ron Vlaar

James Collins vs Ron Vlaar
8.5 WhoScored Rating 7.9

9 Aerial Duels 1
8 Duels Won 0
89% Success 0%
  
5 Tackles Attempted 0
1 Tackles Completed 0
20% Success 0%
  
13 Clearances 14
4 Interceptions 3
0 Shot Blocks 1
  
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
  
44 Passes Attempted 19
33 Successful 17
75% Success 89%
  
0 Crosses Attempted 1
0 Successful 0
0% Success 0%
  
0 Chances Created 0
  
1 Attempts on Goal 1
1 On Target 1
0 Goals 0
  
Winston Reid 10 Most Passed To 4 Brad Guzan
Carl Jenkinson 12 Most Passes From 4 Nathan Baker

Mark Noble vs Ashley Westwood
7 WhoScored Rating 7.2

57 Passes Attempted 47
47 Successful 34
82% Success 72%
  
2 Chances Created 2
0 Assists 0
  
2 Attempts on Goal 1
1 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
  
1 Take Ons Attempted 0
0 Take Ons Successful 0
0% Success 0%
  
5 Crosses Attempted 4
1 Successful 0
20% Success 0%
  
4 Tackles Attempted 2
0 Tackles Completed 1
0% Success 50%
  
1 Clearances 5
5 Interceptions 3
0 Shot Blocks 3
  
0 Errors Leading to Shot 0
0 Errors Leading to Goal 0
  
Carl Jenkinson 9 Most Passed To 9 Tom Cleverley
Aaron Cresswell 12 Most Passes From 7 Tom Cleverley

Diafra Sakho vs Gabriel Agbonlahor
6.7 WhoScored Rating 6.4

4 Attempts on Goal 4
0 On Target 0
0 Goals 0
  
36 Touches 30
8 in Penalty Area 5
22% % Penalty Area 16%

1 Chances Created 1
0 Assists 0
  
16 Passes Attempted 18
9 Successful 12
56% Success 67%
  
4 Take Ons 1
2 Successful Take Ons 1
50% Success 100%
  
5 Aerial Duels 8
4 Duels Won 1
80% Success 13%
  
Steven N'Zonzi 5 Most Passed To 5 Stewart Downing
Jonathan Walters 5 Most Passes From 5 Cheikhou Kouyaté

Friday 7 November 2014

West Ham United vs Aston Villa

Saturday 8th November 2014
15:00
Boleyn Ground

West Ham United vs Aston Villa

Analysis
West Ham go into this game unbeaten in four league games, 4 wins in our last six, and three home wins on the spin.

Aston Villa go into this one on the back of 6 defeats in a row in the league, a goal difference of minus 14 in that time, and three away defeats in a row.

No brainer, right?

It would by very typically West Ham for us to lose to Aston Villa on Saturday. In the 20-odd years I've followed the club it's felt like a regular feature.

Key Player
If Villa are to get something from the game, they would need someone to step into the void left by key players Christian Benteke - service the first of a three match suspension - and Fabian Delph - out until December with injury.

In their absence, the key man for Villa is undoubtedly Austrian forward Andreas Weimann.

Weimann scored Villa's first goal in 6 games last time out against Tottenham to take his tally for the season to 3 in 10 games. Hardly prolific, but it is Weimann's all round game that makes him the main threat.

Not only is he Villa's top goalscorer, he has also had more shots than anyone else, and only one Villain has created more chances than him this season. The image below shows the assists and chances created by Weimann this season.


Perhaps the element of his game that deserves the most praise though is his workrate.

Only two Villa players have won more tackles than the Austrian this season, and it is not unusual to see him hassling and harrying defenders and midfielders in possession, and also working back down the flanks to support defensively.

Weimann's style of play is actually reminiscent of West Ham's in form strike partnership of Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho, both combining an attacking threat with electric pace and serious defensive graft.

The images below shows Weimann's tackles and heat map from the game against Hull back in August. You can see that he gets all over the park, working right back to support his fullbacks, and not just pushing forward.


How to Stop Aston Villa
Obviously, Villa have lost a lot of games recently. In their defence, they have played a number of top sides and Spurs, so their record is in some ways defensible.

Rather than look at their defeats to the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, I thought I'd look at their losses away at Everton and Queens Park Rangers. Everton are a side West Ham are aspiring to be like, and QPR are a side that West Ham should be outperforming in most areas.

What both sides did effectively against Villa is stop them having any time on the ball by defending from the front.

The images below show both side's tackles in the game. The left shows Everton, and right shows QPR. You can clearly see that both sides pushed high up the park, putting pressure on the Villa defence.


And the next pair of images show both sides average position map.

Again, you'll notice that both sides have an almost identical style. Both fullbacks (#23 & #3 for Everton, and #14 & #13 for QPR) push very high up the park. There are two central midfielders (#18 & 16, and #20 and #30) sitting deep, and then a central front three (#21, #10 & #20, and #10, #9 & #25). Finally, both sides have a 'spare' player (#14 and #24) operating slightly wider than the rest of the midfield.


Both of these formations are similar to the diamond that West Ham have been operating with. I'll take our home game against Manchester City as an example.

Jenkinson and Cresswell pushed high up the park, Noble & Song sat in the middle, Downing, Sakho & Valencia acted as an advance front three, and Amalfitano was the 'spare' man.

Continuing in this vein should be the order of the day for West Ham. Pushing high up the park has proven effective for two of Villa's recent conquerors, and if we perform as we can, we can make it a third.

Weakness
Aside from the fact that they are struggling in front of goal at the moment, I think Villa have an obvious weakness that opposition managers have been exploiting.

I've already spoken about the fact that Everton and QPR pushed up the pitch and hurried Villa's defenders. It isn't particularly unusual for Everton to approach the game like this, but it was a definite change in approach from QPR.

I think the reason Harry Redknapp altered his side's approach is because Villa are one of the poorer sides in distributing from the back.

This season, Villa have the third worse pass accuracy for defenders only, with their defenders completing just 76.8% of their passes. This isn't a horrendous rate overall, and is actually only just short of their overall success rate of 78%.

However, you would tend to expect defenders - particularly centre halves - to have a decent pass completion rate. The league average for defenders is currently 82.5% completion. 

The image below shows a chart of the pass completion for defenders only.


What makes this statistic particularly worrying for Villa, is that their defenders attempt an average of 131 passes per game this season - and have actually attempted 37.1% of the overall attempted passes for the side.

This suggests that their defence has a fair chunk of the ball, and that there will be opportunities to nick possession from the high up the park - be it via tackles, interceptions or blocks.

Conclusion
To be honest, I hate games like this.

It's not often we are expected to win, and coming up against a side in such poor form makes us the clear favourites. In years gone by, this would be an obvious banana skin for West Ham. This season? Maybe not.

But doesn't that extra dose of hope, optimism and expectation just make the fear in the pit of your stomach swell? You can't have been a Hammer for long if it doesn't!

 Head to Head 
36% Head to Head Win % 35%
39 Won 38
32 Drawn 32
38 Lost 39
168 Goals Scored 168
168 Goals Conceded 168

 Recent Form (excl. Friendlies) 
W L W W W D Last 6 L L L L L L
13 Goals Scored 1
7 Goals Conceded 15
  
L L L W W W Home/Away Form L W W L L L
9 Goals Scored 2
7 Goals Conceded 11
  
 Form Player (excl. GK) 
 (Last 6 League) 
Stewart Downing - Tom Cleverley
6 Appearances 6
540 Minutes Played 540
  
214 Sum Squawka Performance Score 119
36 Average Squawka Performance Rating 20
  
241 Passes Attempted 296
200 Completed 262
83% Success Rate 89%
  
15 Chances Created 7
2 Assists 0
  
9 Attempts on Goal 2
3 On Target 2
1 Goals 0

11 Take Ons Attempted 4
6 Successful Take Ons 2
55% Success Rate 50%
  
7 Tackles Made 29
3 Successful Tackles 16
43% Success Rate 55%
  
4 Interceptions 9
11 Clearances 7
0 Blocks 1
3 Defensive Actions Per Game 3
  
2 Aerial Duels 8
1 Won 3
50% Success Rate 38%

0 Defensive Errors 0
0 Leading to a Goal 0
  
 Last Meeting 
11 May 2014
1-0 Kevin Nolan 46'
2-0 Kevin Nolan 48'
  
4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1

Adrián - Brad Guzan
Guy Demel - Matthew Lowton (56')
James Collins - Nathan Baker
James Tomkins - Ciaran Clark
George McCartney - Ryan Bertrand (74')
Mark Noble - Ashley Westwood
Matthew Taylor - Fabian Delph
Stewart Downing - Andreas Weimann (71')
(68') Kevin Nolan - Leandro Bacuna
(74') Matt Jarvis - Gabriel Agbonlahor
(46') Carlton Cole - Christian Benteke

 Subs 
Jussi Jääskeläinen - Jed Steer
(74') Winston Reid - Joe Bennett (74')
Roger Johnson - Karim El Ahmadi
Pablo Armero - Yacouba Sylla
Jack Collison - Marc Albrighton (56')
(68') Antonio Nocerino - Nicklas Helenius
(46') Marco Borriello - Grant Holt (71')

 Absentees 
 Injured/Doubtful 
West Ham United: Winston Reid, Guy Demel, Andy Carroll
Aston Villa: Alan Hutton, Fabian Delph, Libor Kozak

 Suspensions 
West Ham United: 
Aston Villa: Christian Benteke

  Opposition Last Time Out (League)
vs Tottenham Hotspur
 Goals Scored: 1
 Goals Conceded: 2
 Starting Formation: 4-3-2-1

  Brad Guzan

  Matthew Lowton  Ron Vlaar  Nathan Baker  Aly Cissokho (92')

  Carlos Sánchez  Tom Cleverley  Ashley Westwood

  Charles N'Zogbia (74')  Andreas Weimann (85')

  Christian Benteke (S/O 65')

 subs:
Sha Given
  Ciaran Clark
  Kieran Richardson (85')
  Joe Cole
  Jack Grealish
  Gabriel Agbonlahor (74')
  Darren Bent (92')
  
 Best Player: Matthew Lowton(SR: 7.5)
 Worst Player: Christian Benteke(SR: 5.6)
  
 Top 5's (Min 5 Apps) 
 Goals Scored 
Diafra Sakho 6 - 3 Andreas Weimann
Enner Valencia 3 - 2 Gabriel Agbonlahor
Carlton Cole 2 -                          
Morgan Amalfitano 2 -                                    
Stewart Downing 2 -                                 

 Assists 
Stewart Downing 4 - 1 Charles N'Zogbia
James Tomkins 2 - 1 Kieran Richardson
Aaron Cresswell 2 - 1 Andreas Weimann
Enner Valencia 2 -                                
Mauro Zárate 1 -                             

 Passing Accuracy 
Mark Noble 87% - 89% Tom Cleverley
Stewart Downing 84% - 83% Ashley Westwood
Carl Jenkinson 84% - 83% Fabian Delph
Winston Reid 83% - 83% Philippe Senderos
James Tomkins 81% - 81% Ron Vlaar

 Chances Created per 90 
Stewart Downing 2.41 - 1.71 Ashley Westwood
Aaron Cresswell 1.3 - 1.01 Tom Cleverley
Mark Noble 1.29 - 1 Darren Bent
Alex Song 1 - 0.99 Charles N'Zogbia
Diafra Sakho 0.65 - 0.92 Andreas Weimann

 Successful Dribbles per 90 
Enner Valencia 1.7 - 2.57 Fabian Delph
Alex Song 1 - 1.11 Gabriel Agbonlahor
Morgan Amalfitano 0.94 - 0.99 Charles N'Zogbia
Diafra Sakho 0.81 - 0.88 Alan Hutton
Cheikhou Kouyaté 0.8 - 0.55 Carlos Sanchez

 Tackles Won per 90 
Cheikhou Kouyaté 2.87 - 2.59 Tom Cleverley
Alex Song 2.84 - 1.91 Carlos Sanchez
Morgan Amalfitano 2.58 - 1.75 Alan Hutton
Mark Noble 1.88 - 1.31 Andreas Weimann
Carl Jenkinson 1.88 - 1.13 Nathan Baker

 Aerial Duels Won per 90 
James Collins 4.67 - 3.01 Carlos Sanchez
James Tomkins 3.71 - 2.71 Nathan Baker
Diafra Sakho 3.55 - 2 Darren Bent
Winston Reid 3.35 - 1.73 Gabriel Agbonlahor
Cheikhou Kouyaté 3.03 - 1.72 Aly Cissokho

 Manager 
Sam Allardyce - Paul Lambert
19/10/1954 DOB 07/08/1969
60 Age 45
  
 Playing Career 
Bolton Wanderers Main Club St. Mirren
231 Appearances 227
24 Goals 14
  
9 Total Clubs 5
512 Appearances 574
43 Goals 35
  
England National Team Scotland
0 Caps 40
  
 Managerial Career 
Preston North End First Managerial Role Livingston
30/09/1992 Start Date 01/06/2005
22y 1m 8d Experience 9y 5m 7d
  
7 Sides Managed 5
2 League Titles 1
0 Cup Wins 0
  
39.9% Win % 39.7%
354 Won 168
232 Drawn 98
301 Lost 157
  
 Longest Role (excl. Current) 
Bolton Wanderers Club Norwich City
19/10/1999 Appointed 18/08/2009
29/04/2007 Left 02/06/2012
7y 6m 9d Time in Charge 2y 9m 14d

0 League Titles 1
0 Cup Wins 0
  
41.2% Win % 49.2%
153 Won 70
104 Drawn 35
114 Lost 37
  
 Current Club 
01/06/2011 Appointed 02/06/2012
3y 5m 8d Time in Charge 2y 5m 6d
  
0 League Titles 0
0 Cup Wins 0
  
40.1% Win % 30.6%
59 Won 30
34 Drawn 20
54 Lost 48