After receiving their first defeat of the calendar year, West Ham United visit Aston Villa to bounce back and return to winning ways after winning six in a row prior to the Liverpool loss.

Villa just about beat Southampton at St Mary's as two crucial VAR calls went against the Saints. 

Half way through the first half, Stuart Armstrong shot from close range struck Matt Cash's hand as the full-back attempted to block the effort. VAR stepped in and waved the penalty away as the ball deflected off Cash's thigh before hitting his hand. 

Minutes later, Ross Barkley capitalised for Villa with a header past Alex McCarthy to put the visitors 1-0 up just before halftime. 

In the dying moments of the game, Danny Ings put the ball in the back of the net, thinking he rescued a point for Southampton. However, a very harsh offside through VAR handed Aston Villa the win.  

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On Sunday night, Liverpool beat West Ham 3-1 at the London Stadium to hand the Hammers their third defeat in 20 games. 

A goalless first half was mostly dominated by Jurgen Klopp's side with West Ham not having any chances to test Alisson

Ten minutes into the second half, Mohammed Salah scored his first Premier League goal since before Christmas. Curtis Jones carried the ball from the halfway line then played a one-two with Trent Alexander-Arnold before eventually laying the ball off for Salah to cut inside and curl it into the top corner. 

On the 68th minute mark, Liverpool doubled the scoreline with the perfect counter-attack. A poor West Ham corner was easily cleared by Andy Robertson which allowed Alexander-Arnold to break and switch the play to Xherdan Shaqiri. The Swiss attacker pinged a brilliant ball to Salah inside the box who brought it down and dinks it over Lukasz Fabianski, phenomenally. 

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Georginio Wijnaldum sealed the three points for the Reds with a slick team-goal, eventually leading to the Dutch midfielder tapping the ball past Fabianski. 

However, Craig Dawson scored his second goal in two games to pull one back for the Hammers and to finish the game 3-1 to Liverpool. 

  • Team news

Aston Villa

Wesley remains out for Villa with a serious knee injury. 

With a foot injury, Kortney Hause will also miss the Wednesday night game. 

West Ham United

Arthur Masuaku will be missed again as he starts his recovery after completing a successful knee operation. 

After signing last Friday, on loan from Manchester United, Jesse Lingard, could also feature but is most likely to start on the bench. 

  • Predicted lineups

Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; McGinn, Luiz, Traore, Barkley, Grealish; Watkins. 

West Ham United: Fabianski; Coufal, Ogbonna, Dawson, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals; Antonio.

  • Ones to watch

Aston Villa - Jack Grealish

The star player for Villa, Grealish has claimed six goals and nine assists for his boyhood club so far this season. Quick and agile with a wide range of skills, the winger can certainly be the difference for any team. Starting all 19 games, the captain is hoping to move further up the table with a win against West Ham. 

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West Ham United - Jarrod Bowen

The energetic attacker has started all but one game this season for the Hammers. Scoring five and assisting three so far, he has been vital to the Hammers' strong start. Bowen adds that certain dynamism which West Ham have struggled to find over previous seasons. The Englishmen also scored a header in the previous encounter between the two sides. 

Linking perfectly with attackers around him, he has rarely put a foot wrong for the club. The midfielder, multiple times, came back on his defensive duties against Liverpool like he has all season while also running behind the defence to open up the opponents' defence.

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  • Previous meeting

West Ham United 2-1 Aston Villa (30/11/2020)

  • Where to watch

UK residents will be able to watch the game live on BT Sports on Wednesday, 3rd February from 19:45 PM with the game kicking off at 20:15 PM.