Aston Villa took a huge step towards safety, last week when defeating Everton 3-2 at home. Those three points have lifted them into 14th spot and two points clear of third bottom Sunderland. The remarkable thing is, however, because others – including the Black Cats and Leicester – also won, there is still a lot to do to ensure they play Premier League football next season. For a long time it appeared as though clubs would survive with a lot fewer than 40 points, but as it is, the final points tally for survival could actually be above that mark. Villa are currently on 35 points with three games to play, and as Sunderland (who have played a game less) can reach a total of 45, still, Tim Sherwood will be well aware of the need for at least a couple more wins.
It may not have been pretty, but West Ham’s win over Burnley last Saturday was an important one for Sam Allardyce’s team. It was not important in the sense of battling against relegation or challenging for a European spot, but it did lift them back into the top 10 and ended a run of five games without a success. Allardyce will also point to a change in fortune as the win stemmed from Burnley going down to 10 men early in the game and the concession of a penalty that resulted in the winning goal. Despite taking the lead and having a man extra for the majority of the match, West Ham really struggled to kill the game off and rode their luck against the strugglers. Considering how difficult it has been for them to win games of late, it is not a huge surprise to see why they found it difficult to kill the game off.
Villa have the FA Cup final to look forward to at the end of the season but there focus will be solely on guaranteeing top flight football for another season. Last weekend’s win was their third in four games in all competitions so they definitely have some momentum at the right stage of the season. Following this weekend’s game at home to West Ham, they travel Southampton before finishing off their campaign at home to Burnley. It is a kind enough run-in on paper, but this stage of the season is notorious for throwing up strange results so Villa really do have to be on their mettle.
Having defeated Burnley last weekend, the challenge for West Ham is to back that win up with another. Despite their excellent from earlier in the season, the Irons have not won consecutive league games since the beginning of December. It highlights how much they have dropped off in the latter part of the season and it is likely to be something that Allardyce – if he remains as manager – will have to rectify for next year if they are to achieve their goal of playing European football in the new stadium which will host it’s first game in 2016.
The relegation picture in this season’s Premier League has been a difficult one to figure out for a long time, and that remains the case heading into the last few weeks. The difference between now and a month or so ago, however, is that the teams involved are picking up points on a regular basis. It is now seven points from their last four league games for Villa and they will be confident of continuing their good run on Saturday. West Ham were less than convincing in the win over Burnley and the fact remains that they are winless in their last 10 games away from home in the league. Sherwood has managed to get the club’s supporters back and it will be another excellent atmosphere, which I see building to three more points for the home team.
Aston Villa 19/20 @ Ladbrokes
