Paul Lambert must be dizzy. His Aston Villa side has gone round in so many circles, it is in many ways fitting that they lie tenth in the table. For them still to be extremely nervous is testament to the tight nature of this year's table. Five points above the drop zone, the home side will see this as a golden opportunity to start pulling away. Villa's last home game was a heart-attack inducing 4-3 victory over West Brom, but don't expect goals this time around. Lambert's side thrives on playing on the counter-attack, but West Ham are likely to again park the bus, particularly with their main source of goals/assists, Andy Carroll being controversially banned. West Ham are still in big trouble, despite their heartening 2-0 win over Swansea, but could emerge from the bottom three if they get something from Villa Park. Sam Allardyce has finally got his defence organised how he likes it, and after two successive clean sheets he will be confident of shutting out an admittedly unpredictable Aston Villa. Prediction - 0-0.
I am from Bangor, aged 24, and possess an MA in Journalism from The University Of Ulster. I have had work published in the Belfast Telegraph and interviewed several local footballers and Olympic athletes. I also run my own sports blog, 'Sporting Thought' in addition to contributing to What Culture.
