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West Ham are going to have to improve their away form if they are to make a serious assault on those sides in and around the top-six and games against teams like Aston Villa are where they should not be slipping up.
Manuel Pellegrini's side, to be fair, have started well with four points from a possible six away from the London Stadium - only Liverpool and Man City have collected more (before MD5).
They spent big on attacking reinforcements in the summer and now have talent in abundance going forward. The Hammers' chequebook got some usage and for that they have been rewarded, going four unbeaten since their opening day 5-0 drubbing to champions Man City.
Injuries have derailed the Hammers in recent seasons but, with exception of Winston Reid and Michail Antonio, they pretty much have a whole squad to choose from and they can travel to Villa Park with optimism.
As much as the Hammers need to be winning games like this, so do Aston Villa. Their home form will be crucial to survival and they got their first win here last time out against Everton under the Friday night lights.
They have since been beaten at Crystal Palace, with THAT decision by Kevin Friend denying them a point in the final stages following Jack Grealish's 'dive' - see it again here.
They will be hoping for more of that performance against Everton rather than the Selhurst Park display, where they allowed goal-shy Palace to attempt an incredible 22 shots (only five were on target).
It really is a tough one to call in terms of predicting the outcome. The international break could easily have halted West Ham's momentum and after such good form you can just see them slipping up here. Then you throw in the Monday Night Football element that should not make a difference, but it does.
At a push, Villa are slightly preferred (probably in a draw no bet though) and currently at a price of over 17/10 to win. But without confidence in either side, the preference is to avoid the result.
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