Well, not a lot to be said, is there? Villa need three points, and that’s what’s on offer today. Doesn’t matter how we get them. We just need them, desperately. It’s reached the point where “must win” applies if Villa want to stay up. We’re running out of games, especially of the “winnable” variety.
Some have already written us off, and I understand. But being an optimistic sort, I’m going to go with a Villa win today, if only to defy the general state of resignation and prolong our agony.
Formations, tactics, line-ups…Whatever the choices, the rest of the results have gone our way this weekend. It’s time we took advantage. If the 3-3 draw with Everton gave anyone hope, then today’s the day it’s got to turn into something concrete.
As we nervously await kick-off, and even more nervously await the final whistle, here are a few stats courtesy of EA to help set things up.
– Christian Benteke’s goals against Everton took him to 10 in the Premier League this season, one of 16 players to have hit the milestone. Of those 16 strikers, Benteke has taken the 6th highest number of shots to register his ten goals with 74. However, he also has the third best shots on target percentage of those 16 players with 71.6% of his shots on target. Only Juan Mata and Steven Fletcher have been more accurate in their pursuit of hitting double figures this season.
– Ron Vlaar made 7 clearances in the game against Everton, and will be key to cutting off West Ham’s supply to Andy Carroll in this game. There have only been 6 players this season who have made more than 7 clearances in a game, and it’s Vlaar who still leads the ranking for most in one match with 11 against United in November.
– Vlaar’s stats get even more impressive when you consider only 16 players this season have attempted more than 25 tackles and still maintained a 75% + success rate. Vlaar is one of those with 37 tackles attempted and 75.7% of them successful. He’s joined in that 16 by team mate Barry Bannan, who has attempted 28 tackles winning 78.6%.
– Brad Guzan made 10 saves in the game against Everton, the second highest in the last round of Premier League games, and the fourth time this season he has had to make 10 or more saves in a match. Guzan also hold the record for most saves in a match this season, with 16 against Liverpool in December, and most in the league overall this season with 146.
– Andy Carroll celebrated a first start for West Ham since November by scoring the winner in a 1-0 win over Swansea in their last game.
– That was just Carroll’s second goal for West Ham this season, having had 29 shots at goal with 55.2% on target, a rate 14.5 shots per goal.
– West Ham’s James Tomkins is one of 16 players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index to have attempted 25 or more tackles while maintaining a 75% success rate. He has attempted 34 tackles this season, winning 76.5% of them.
– Sam Allardyce called retaining Mohammed Diame ‘vital’ as the transfer window closed last week. The midfielder has attempted more tackles (70) than any other West Ham player this season, barring his midfield team mate Mark Noble who has attempted 90 tackles.
– Noble was credited his third assist of the season after delivering his 46th cross this term for Andy Carroll to head in against against Swansea. Noble has also completed 482 passes in the opposition half this season, more than any of his West Ham team mates.
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