West Ham vs Aston Villa

Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive reports on the wider media reaction to London Stadium stalemate and what it means for both clubs.

West Ham started the day in the bottom three after Bournemouth’s shock win over Liverpool. They were light in midfield without Boubacar Kamara, forcing Emery to start Leon Bailey on the right and move John McGinn into a deeper role, and West Ham saw vulnerabilities. They knew a victory would lift them 14th, but they were unable to find a winner with Danny Ings drawing a blank against his old club. Immediately ahead of that group sit Villa, doubtless frustrated to be in one of those mid-table ‘nothing’ positions but out of danger at least. The point that saw Villa move to within two of Chelsea in 10th, while West Ham are hovering above the drop zone on goal difference. Villa, 11 points above the bottom three, were lax in possession at times. Bowen and Benrahma are joint top league scorers while summer signing Gianluca Scamacca has three and Danny Ings, recruited in January, has two. Douglas Luiz strolled through midfield, Kehrer stood off Moreno and Aguerd lost Watkins, who punished the West Ham defence by glancing a bouncing header past Alphonse Areola. But the Hammers were soon back on level terms after Leon Bailey conceded a first-half penalty was converted by Said Benrahma. They struck out of nothing in the 17th minute, Álex Moreno advancing from left-back and finding Watkins with a gorgeous whipped cross. Ings played up front here and was anonymous. “The moment we were in control was when we could have scored the second goal,” Emery said.

West Ham and Aston Villa combined for nearly 30 shots but the hosts will feel aggrieved not to have found a winner in a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.

Can the Gunners make it five wins in a row in the Premier League? Fulham have made two changes with Tosin coming in for Diop and Bobby Decordova-Reid in for Willian as the Brazilian winger misses out totally. Slow start here as Arsenal have been a little bit sloppy. The home fans celebrate the VAR decision arriving on the screen like it is a goal for Fulham. Leandro Trossard with a lovely clipped cross to the back post and Martinelli heads home. Great flowing football from Arsenal after Tosin gave it away but Xhaka decides to take an extra touch and he gets it all wrong as Leno gratefully collects. That looked certain to be a third for Arsenal. Fulham 0-3 Arsenal – Right on half time Martin Odegaard fires home after another fine Arsenal counter. Fulham have missed Joao Palhinha badly in midfield and just don’t look at it. Arsenal host Sporting Lisbon in their Europa League last 16 second leg on Thursday, then host Crystal Palace on Sunday, Mar. Jesus will of course start a large chunk of the final 11 games of the campaign but Arsenal now have a very different option to roll out whenever they want. Villa exits the game in 11th with 35 points.

West Ham United are part of a nine-team battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League and here is how the next four games for those sides in danger ...

04/04 Nottingham Forest (H) - 14th 01/04 Fulham (H) - 8th 04/04 Aston Villa (H) - 11th 15/04 Fulham (H) - 8th 04/04 Leeds United (A) - 19th Of sides currently in the bottom nine, with just five points separating 12th from 20th at present, West Ham have the fourth hardest fixtures in their next four games.

West Ham United manager Paul Konchesky highlighted his side's failure to take their chances as a factor in their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

He said “Sometimes in football, you need a little bit of luck and we are not getting that at the moment. “With the chances that we had in the first half, we should have gone ahead but it wasn’t to be. We are getting punished at the minute, it has happened two weeks on the trot now. Konchesky believes that fortunes will change with a bit more luck. “In spells, we were the better team today,” Konchesky said. “I know that the result doesn’t show that but I think that in spells, we were the better team.

Matt Maher rates the players after Aston Villa's draw at West Ham. Subscribe to our daily newsletter! Sign Up.

Confident on the ball. Looked more confident on the ball than in recent weeks. No shortage of effort.

Aston Villa central midfielder John McGinn was the unsung hero against West Ham.

Indeed, the midfielder put in a complete performance. [Sofascore](https://www.sofascore.com/aston-villa-west-ham/MP), the gem won a whopping six of his seven (86%) individual duels – including all six of his battles on the ground – and made two clearances, two interceptions, and one tackle. This shows that the Scot was composed and effective in everything that he tried to do throughout the match, which made him a useful outlet for the team with the ball. [Sofascore](https://www.sofascore.com/aston-villa-west-ham/MP), the Scotsman – who had 67 touches – completed 83% of his attempted passes and all three of his dribble attempts, whilst also completing four of his six long passes. [sixth](https://www.sofascore.com/player/ollie-watkins/555386) goal in seven matches, central midfielder [John McGinn](https://www.footballfancast.com/tag/john-mcginn) deserves plenty of praise for his performance in the middle of the park. [table](https://www.sofascore.com/team/football/aston-villa/40) and are now eight points clear of 12th place and 11 points ahead of the bottom three, which leaves them in a comfortable position heading into the final weeks of the campaign.

IAN LADYMAN: Regular West Ham watchers will tell you David Moyes' team has been flatlining for a long time and they have a point after nine wins in over a ...

For now Martinez is his number one but he is not a goalkeeper without chinks in his armour. He is only three games short of a century of Premier League appearances for the club. But it was hard say that he was right. It is harder to get in an England squad when you don’t play for a top six club. When it comes to crossing, he is good at that too. Nobody can ever take that away from the Aston Villa goalkeeper. Still, the distinct lack of atmosphere in East London made it easier for Villa to play than perhaps should have been the case. By the time the World Cup came around, he didn’t make the cut. Maybe the message is finally getting through. All of those players – with the possible exception of Chelsea’s Sterling – have been showing some kind of form recently. Yet they turn up for games determined to do their bit. So yesterday’s boos and jeers were as much reflective of that and last week’s dismal 4-0 defeat at

Red-hot Aston Villa centre forward Ollie Watkins is “demanding more of himself every day”, according to his manager, Unai Emery.

He is demanding and critical of himself, listening a lot to everything we are saying.” Trying to improve in the small spaces, to move better. Aston Villa had to be content with a point at the London Stadium against West Ham, despite taking an early lead through Watkins. He is the first one trying to stop the opposition and is doing a competitive job. He is also helping the team defensively. “Hopefully he can continue (scoring),” said the Villa boss.

Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings was grateful to the away support after Sunday's 1-1 draw at West Ham.Villa remain 11th in the Premier League after ...

The Villa centre-back has been a regular fixture in the Villa team this season team having played 90 minutes across almost every league match after being left on the bench against Bournemouth in their opening game of the season. The defender wandered over to the away fans before chucking his shirt to a delighted supporter in the crowd, reports And in the aftermath of Villa claiming a point at the London Stadium, Mings was spotted carrying out a classy gesture.

Aston Villa head coach Carla Ward hailed her side's character after they defeated West Ham United 2-1 on Sunday.

“Quite weirdly, I was calm because the players have got character, this group has character in abundance; they pull through and look after each other,” Ward said. “I think the character of the players needs to be spoken about because we found a way of winning when we weren’t at our best and that’s a really key skill to have.” Ward said that both players made wonderful contributions to the outcome of the match. West Ham United pushed hard for an equaliser but The Villans were solid at the back. It could have been a very different story if not for the brilliance of goalkeeper Hannah Hampton. Goals from Rachel Daly and Jordan Nobbs handed The Villans a clear advantage before Viviane Asseyi pulled a goal back late on for the hosts.