Aston Villa return to action this afternoon as Unai Emery’s side travel to the capital to face West Ham United, giving Moussa Diaby the chance to get his season back on track.
Aston Villa will return to action in the Premier League full of confidence despite last week’s damning defeat to Tottenham.
After losing 4-0 at Villa Park to the Lilywhites, Unai Emery’s side replenished their belief with a 4-0 win over Ajax on Thursday and will be motivated to beat West Ham United this afternoon.
Yesterday, the North Londoners failed to take the opportunity to overtake Villa to claim fourth place, losing 3-0 to Fulham to give the Midlands club the chance to extend their lead to five points.
First, the Villans must overcome West Ham, who also played out a high-scoring victory in Europe on Thursday, making today’s contest far from easy.
Aston Villa team news vs West Ham United
One of the negatives that came from the 4-0 win over Ajax was the withdrawal of Ollie Watkins, who was forced to exit play in the 33rd minute after sustaining a cut to his knee.
It’s expected that Villa will assess the fitness of their talisman before the battle with West Ham, meaning that Jhon Duran could start in attack for the first time this season in the Premier League.
Jacob Ramsey was ruled out of the fixture against Ajax and like Watkins, could be assessed prior to the visit to the London Stadium as he continues to battle with injury.
Diego Carlos is also likely to miss out due to the hamstring injury he suffered on Thursday night, while John McGinn will be absent as he commences his three-match suspension.
Moussa Diaby must start against West Ham United
With injury and some performances from the Ajax game in mind, Emery could be tempted to hand Moussa Diaby his first Premier League start in five games this afternoon.
The Frenchman fell out of favour in the manager’s starting XI due to a dip in form however, his dazzling display on Thursday could lure the boss to make way for the forward to start.
Previously lauded as “exciting” by teammate Ezri Konsa, Diaby was back to his best against Ajax, scoring a goal, making two key passes and completing 100% of his dribbles, via Sofascore.
Youri Tielemans was the man that made way for the 24-year-old to shine against Ajax, and could be the player to miss out again this afternoon to allow the £51.9m signing to revive his season in attack.
Emery could be particularly tempted to field Diaby in the instance that Watkins isn’t fit to start, with his electrifying presence having the capacity to fill the void left by the Englishman.
After suffering through a difficult patch of form in his debut Premier League campaign, the Frenchman could now find his way back into the starting XI if he can keep the momentum going against the Hammers.
