Barclays Premier League betting - West Ham vs Aston Villa

West Ham host top-four hopefuls Aston Villa tonight in a big game for both teams. West Ham started the season very poorly and sit second from bottom of the Premiership, win-less since the first day of the season despite scoring in all but two matches.The last two weeks, however, provide some hope as the Hammers held a free-scoring Arsenal side to a draw at Upton Park before earning a point at Sunderland. Aston Villa have started brightly and can boast wins over Chelsea and Liverpool already, but have won only one of their last five fixtures.

The bookies have found this match very difficult to call indeed, making West Ham the slightest of favourites at 7/4 (bet $40 to win $70 profit) and Villa underdogs at 9/5. The draw is priced at 23/10, and looks as if it could be value as both teams have drawn three of their previous four matches.

A 1-1 draw has been made the most likely result. This has been the score in both of Aston Villa`s last two games and against Manchester City four weeks ago. Next is 1-0 to Aston Villa, available at 15/2, just ahead of 1-0 to Villa at 8/1. A 2-1 win for the visitors is 9/1 and for the hosts it is 11/1. A 0-0 draw is 10/1 but neither team has had problems scoring goals so far this season. 2-2, as in West Ham`s last two games, is 16/1.

Twenty-three year-old Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is favourite to open the scoring tonight at 6/1, ahead of fellow England international Carlton Cole of West Ham at 13/2. Two further target men, John Carew and Emile Heskey, both of Villa, are 15/2 while Alessandro Diamanti is 8/1 after scoring two goals in his seven appearances this term.

The half-time/full-time market further reflects how difficult it is to separate the two teams, with Villa/Villa and draw/draw both at 4/1, narrowly ahead of West Ham/West Ham at 9/2. Draw/Villa is at 5/1 and draw/West Ham is available at 6/1. Last time the sides met Aston Villa led at half-time only to see West Ham equalise in the eighty-fifth minute.  A repeat of Villa/draw is 14/1.

Neither team can realistically harbour ambitions of winning the league this year. However, Aston Villa will want to take advantage of Liverpool`s form so far and take their spot in the top four and next year`s Champions League. They are 9/1 to achieve this, and 6/4 to make it to the top six. West Ham have the more modest goal of staying in the Premier League, as they are 9/2 to be relegated this season.

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