Aston Villa v West Ham United
Premier League, Villa Park, Sunday 26 January 2025, 4.30pm GMT
West Ham United make the trip to the West Midlands for the second time in 16 days to face Aston Villa for an episode of Sky Sports’ Super Sunday.
Having exited the Emirates FA Cup at Villa Park in Graham Potter’s first match as Head Coach on Friday 10 January, the Hammers will be out to avenge that 2-1 third-round defeat in Sunday's Premier League fixture.
The Irons head up the M1 and M6 seeking a second victory in Potter's third top-flight match in charge, having defeated Fulham at London Stadium before going down to a home defeat Crystal Palace last weekend.
West Ham start the gameweek 14th in the standings with 26 points from 22 matches, while Unai Emery's Villa are eighth, having amassed 36 points from the same number of games played.
Villa played in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, losing 1-0 at Monaco to drop out of the top-eight automatic qualifying places for the round 16. However, sitting ninth with a home game with Celtic to play next week, Villa can still secure their top-eight place, and are assured a spot in the knockout phase play-offs.
Villa may have one eye on that pivotal European tie, while West Ham will be keen to secure three important points on the road, so a tasty encounter awaits in this Sunday tea-time kick-off.
Tickets…
West Ham fans are advised that the Club’s allocation of 3,006 standard tickets have sold out. The first 90% of tickets sold out to Bondholders and Season Ticket Holders with 19+ Loyalty Points. The remaining 10% (306 tickets) were then made available by a ballot process to Season Ticket Holders.
Please note that most of the visiting supporter area at Villa Park is now an area of licensed standing. All tickets will be issued in an NFC digital format for this fixture.
Supporters under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult when entering Villa Park.
Travel…
The address for your sat nav is Villa Park, Trinity Rd, Birmingham, B6 6HE. However, there is next to no parking available at the ground and a traffic exclusion zone is imposed around the stadium on matchdays from two hours prior to kick-off until up to 60 minutes after the final whistle.
Official parking is available at Aston Social Club in Aston Hall Road (postcode B6 7JU) and Powerleague Birmingham in Lichfield Road (postcode B6 7TG).
Any supporters with accessibility requirements should contact our Disabled Liaison Officer on 0333 323 1874 for information on disabled parking. Parking needs to be booked in advance of the match.
For those travelling by train, the nearest stations are Witton and Aston, both of which are on lines from Birmingham New Street. There are direct trains from London Euston to New Street on Sunday, and also slower services from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street, from which you can walk to New Street.
Direct trains from London Euston to New Street leave at 10.47, 11.24, 12.10, and 12.22. After the game, direct services leave New Street for London at 19.06, 19.19, and 20.06.
How To Follow…
Sunday's match has been selected for broadcast in the United Kingdom by Sky Sports. If you live outside the UK, click HERE for details of Premier League listings in your territory.
You can follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app, and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle on our website and social media.
Live audio commentary will be available in the UK on BBC Radio 5 Live and worldwide on our official website and app.
Team News…
Crysencio Summerville could be available to feature this weekend, and a decision on his availability will be made closer to kick-off. The Dutch winger suffered a hamstring injury in the FA Cup tie against the Villans.
Captain Jarrod Bowen is continuing his rehabilitation from a fractured foot, with the West Ham forward stepping back onto the grass this week.
Niclas Füllkrug is also recovering after suffering a serious hamstring problem in the FA Cup tie at Villa Park, Jean-Clair Todibo has a calf problem and Michail Antonio is unavailable following his car accident towards the start of December.
Dinos Mavropanos is suspended for Sunday's Premier League clash at Villa Park, having been red-carded for two bookable offences in the Hammers' meeting with Crystal Palace.
For Aston Villa, John McGinn is believed to be closing in on a return to action, although Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Pau Torres are expected to miss out.
Opposition…
Aston Villa continue to ride a wave of excitement and positivity that has swept over them since former Sevilla and Arsenal boss Unai Emery took the reins in the Midlands a little over two years ago.
When the serial UEFA Europa League-winning coach made the switch from La Liga side Villarreal in October 2022, his task was to return Villa to the heights of a 1982 European Cup-winning outfit and a club that boasts seven League Championships in their trophy cabinet.
While a long-term goal, Emery had made a blistering impact by the end of the 2022/23 campaign, taking Villa from 14th in the Premier League, and three points above the bottom three, to seventh by season’s end, securing a return to continental competition for the first time in 13 years.
A first summer at the helm allowed Emery to better mould his squad to his own liking ahead of 2023/24, and while they powered all the way to the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals, where they lost out to eventual champions Olympiacos, Villa’s incredible Premier League form saw them sit just one point off the top after 17 matches played, and earmarked as genuine title contenders by many within the game.
Ultimately, the title eluded them, and a four-game winless run at the end of term was somewhat uncharacteristic of an otherwise joyous year, but they indeed did enough to secure fourth spot in the table, and UEFA Champions League qualification.
The Villans have enjoyed a strong start to life back in the most prestigious club competition, having earned 13 points from their first seven matches, including victories over FC Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, before a narrow defeat to AS Monaco on matchday seven saw them pass up a sizeable opportunity to all but book their place in the top eight on Tuesday night.
Villa now need to ensure that they beat Celtic next Wednesday in their eighth and final group stage match at Villa Park, while hoping for results elsewhere to go their way to seal automatic progression to the last 16 of the competition.
In the Premier League, Aston Villa sit just two points off fifth spot, having won ten and lost six of their 22 fixtures so far.
Previous Meetings…
We were unbeaten in five visits to Villa Park in the Premier League before goals from Douglas Luiz (two), Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey saw off the Hammers comfortably in October 2023.
Pablo Fornals got the only goal at Villa Park in the 2022/23, and also netted in the 4-1 triumph in October 2021, when Ben Johnson, Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen were also on target to secure our best Premier League result at Villa Park
Our best-ever result at Villa Park was a 5-1 First Division victory scored in April 1927, when Vic Watson (two), Stan Earle, Joseph Johnson and Jimmy Ruffell shared the visitors’ goals.
Overall, our biggest top-flight win over Villa came in August 1958, when Ted Fenton’s newly promoted Hammers thrashed their opponents 7-2 in the First Division at the Boleyn Ground, where Vic Keeble, John Dick and Malcolm Musgrove each scored twice.
Match Officials…
Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistant Referees: Eddie Smart and Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth Official: Ruebyn Ricardo
VAR: Paul Tierney
Assistant VAR: Tim Wood
Peter Bankes has been confirmed as the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League trip to Aston Villa on Sunday.
The 42-year-old has been part of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) Select Group One since the 2019/20 campaign, three seasons after being promoted to Select Group Two.
His first appointment in the top-flight came in August 2019, for Leicester City’s 3-1 home win over AFC Bournemouth, though he took charge of a West Ham game little under four years earlier in the third round of the EFL Cup, also at Leicester, with the Foxes winning that one 2-1 after extra-time.
In total, Bankes has held the whistle at 12 fixtures involving the Hammers, including Premier League draws away at AFC Bournemouth and at home to Newcastle United last season.
This term, he was the man in the middle of our Carabao Cup second-round win over Bournemouth at the end of August, while he also took charge of the Premier League defeat at Nottingham Forest in November.
Away from the domestic scene, Bankes has refereed at senior international level on two occasions, and in UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying four times.
For more information about the officials, click HERE.
