Venue: Upton Park Referee: Howard Webb Date: Saturday 2nd of November Team News;For West Ham United; Matt Taylor, Alou Diarra, James Collins, Andy Carroll, Ricardo Vaz Te and Stephen Henderson are all confirmed absentees. Mladen Petric and James Tomkins are doubtful for the clash, so manager Sam Allardyce is hardly spoilt for choice with his squad. The Villans are short of options at left-back, with Antonio Luna and Joe Bennett both ruled out of action, meaning centre-back Nathan Baker could deputise in their absence. Forward Gabriel Agbonlahor is also doubtful, meaning Lambert will most likely give the out-of-form Andi Weimann a start. The home side find themselves in poor form of late, with just one win in their last eight games. The Hammers are in 15th place with 9 points from 9 games and are likely to once again be without a recognised striker. West Ham's home form has been below par this campaign - with three defeats from four outings at Upton Park. Aston Villa's recent form has also been lacking. The Midlands outfit have failed to score in their last three league games, with their most recent PL victory coming at the end of September. However, Villa boast a good run of form on their travels - with the side having taken 7 points from a possible 12. Likely lineups West Ham (4-2-3-1): Jaaskelainen, Rat, Reid, Tomkins, Demel, Nolan, Noble, Jarvis, Morrison, Downing, Diame Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Baker, El-Ahmadi, Delph, Bacuna, Tonev, Weimann, Benteke source - bbc football
Crippy Cooke, 23, is a freelance Football Writer contributing to What Culture. He's had work featured on Zoo, MSN, London 24, The Telegraph, The Huffington Post, and was recently named Writer of the Year on FTBpro - while also a nominee for Best Male Blog in the Football Blogging Awards.
