West Ham have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League games against Aston Villa (W6 D5), a 4-1 loss at Villa Park last season.
Aston Villa are winless in their last nine Premier League away games against West Ham (D5 L4), since a 2-1 victory at Upton Park in April 2011.
West Ham have lost on five of the six occasions they’ve begun a Premier League campaign against a side who finished in the previous season’s top four. The only exception was a 2-0 away win at Arsenal in 2015-16.
West Ham have won their opening Premier League match in just one of the last eight seasons (D1 L6), beating Newcastle 4-2 in 2021-22. Indeed, the Hammers have lost their opening game in the Premier League more often than any other side (15).
Aston Villa have lost their opening Premier League match in each of the last three seasons, conceding 10 goals in these games. They also lost the last time they faced West Ham in their first game, going down 1-0 at Upton Park in 2012-13.
West Ham have conceded at least once in each of their last 18 Premier League games – only once have they had a longer run without a clean sheet in the competition, going 24 games between March and November 2008.
Aston Villa failed to win any of their last four Premier League games in 2023-24 (D2 L2), their longest run without a win under Unai Emery. Indeed, the Spaniard last had a longer run without a league win between May and September 2021 with Villarreal (D4 L1).
This will be Julen Lopetegui’s first game in charge of West Ham. He won his first Premier League game in charge of Wolves (2-1 v Everton), while his last victory in the competition was a home game against Aston Villa (1-0 in May 2023).
West Ham’s new signing Crysencio Summerville was involved in 28 Championship goals last season for Leeds United (19 goals, 9 assists excluding play-offs). Only Southampton’s Adam Armstrong (34) and Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics (31) were involved in more.
Ollie Watkins is Aston Villa’s highest ever Premier League goalscorer in games played in London, with 13 goals in the capital so far. He has 59 overall in the competition, behind only Gabriel Abgonlahor (74) and Dwight Yorke (60) for the Villans.