On Sunday afternoon, Aston Villa welcomed West Ham United to Villa Park for a Premier League fixture. West Ham had been in outstanding form before this game, winning their previous four fixtures, which included wins over Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City (via penalties). The Hammers looked to continue this run of form, knowing that a win would take them level on points with Manchester City. Villa on the other hand knew that a win would bring them to within just four points of their visitors, and provide some much-needed relief for Head Coach Dean Smith, particularly with a difficult run of games looming. It was West Ham who prevailed on the day, running away with a 4-1 victory, although the game was evenly poised at 2-1 at the time of Ezri Konsa’s sending off early in the second half. Despite a positive spell after this sending off for Villa, West Ham ended up riding this wave and scoring two more in the second half.
This tactical analysis will provide an analysis of the tactics both teams used in this game.
Lineups and formations
Villa lined up in a 4-3-3, with club captain Tyrone Mings being left on the bench in favour of a Kortney Hause and Konsa centre-back partnership. Matt Targett and Matty Cash played either side of them with Emi Martinez behind them in goal. Marvelous Nakamba played at the bottom of a midfield three, with Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn in front of him. Their front three was made up of Leon Bailey, getting his first start since his injury last month, Emi Buendia, and Ollie Watkins.
West Ham played a 4-2-3-1 with Ben Johnson keeping his place in the side despite Vladimir Coufal’s return from injury, such is the young Hammer’s form. Unsurprisingly, the rest of the defence was made up of Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell, with the ever-impressive Lukasz Fabianski in goal. Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek operated as a double pivot with Pablo Fornals in front. Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma played on either wing, with Michail Antonio playing up front by himself.
Villa’s pressing system
Villa operated with an aggressive pressing set-up in the first half, using Ollie Watkins’ high energy to consistently put West Ham’s centre-back pairing under pressure. Buendia and Bailey looked to support the centre-forward, specifically aiming to show West Ham into a crowded central area. If they could force the West Ham centre-backs into looking to play into the centre of the pitch, they would then look to ensure Rice, Soucek and Fornals were man-marked and unable to get on the ball.
We can see this pattern occurring in the image below with Watkins shifting forward to press Ogbonna as Buendia’s curved press forced Rice to play back inside to his centre-back.
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