Having made a giant step towards Premier League survival by defeating Everton, Aston Villa aim to further escape the danger zone by defeating out-of-sorts West Ham. The Hammers finally ended a barren run of results as they defeated bottom-placed Burnley, but they will have bigger fish to fry at Villa Park.

The Tim Sherwood effect

Nobody can say that Paul Lambert didn’t do a decent job given the resources at his disposal, but club’s decision to replace the former Celtic boss with Tim Sherwood is proving to be a masterstroke. It was the former Spurs manager that helped the Villans restore the lost confidence and turn things around when everything seemed lost. Aston Villa not only seriously improved their survival hopes in the Premiership, but also pipped Liverpool to a place in the FA Cup final, meaning European qualification and a major title is a realistic possibility as well. The Villans have seriously raised their performances over the last couple of months, winning six of last ten matches in all competitions, but they still sit just two points above the bottom three, meaning they could really use a win against West Ham. The hosts have plenty of reason for optimism at the moment, having won three of last four matches on all fronts, while giving holders Manchester City a real run for their money in the 3-2 defeat. And with star striker Christian Benteke back to his scoring ways, the Villans look a good bet to all but secure Premier League survival with three points against West Ham.

Nathan Baker and Ciaran Clark continue to miss out, while Gabriel Agbonlahor is doubtful through a hamstring problem.

Poor finish to the season

West Ham had largely impressed in the opening exchanges, hinting they might even join the race for European positions, but serious selection problems and the lack of consistency soon took the wind out of their sails. The Hammers have been pretty disappointing ever since Christmas, taking mere 16 points from last 18 matches, so nobody was surprised to see them slip to ninth in the overall standings. And while the team did show signs of improvement of late, they could only defeat relegation strugglers Sunderland and Burnley at home, while failing to play to their potential in most other games. Who knows if Big Sam’s charges would have defeated the Clarets last weekend if they hadn’t been awarded a penalty early on, and the mere fact they failed to score another goal despite playing with an extra man for some 70 minutes speaks volumes about their current form. The Hammers don’t exactly have much to play for at the moment, and this is probably not the right time to be facing in-form Aston Villa, whose motivation will be through the roof seeing as they are fighting for their lives.

The likes of Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho, Guy Demel, James Tomkins and Winston Reid remain sidelined through injury.

Verdict

Aston Villa have shown tremendous improvement of late and judging by their recent performances, another impressive victory should be on the cards. West Ham are not only without several key men, but are completely out of form and I cannot see them getting anything from Villa Park.

Top pick: Home win   2.00 (1/1) @ Coral

Alternative pick 1: Benteke to score   2.20 (6/5) @ Stan James

Alternative pick 2: Aston Villa to win to nil   3.30 (23/10) @ Paddy Power