Top-four side Aston Villa take on bottom-three team West Ham on Sunday (14:15 GMT) but neither’s recent form reflects their current league standing.
Villa’s goal struggles
After ending 2025 with a run of 11 consecutive wins in all competitions, Aston Villa’s fortunes have taken a new-year dive.
Villa have earned just nine points from their past 10 Premier League matches. In midweek they reached the quarter-finals of a major European competition for the third consecutive season, but this weekend they could lose a fourth league game in a row, something boss Umai Emery has never suffered in his entire managerial career.
The Villans were the joint-fifth highest scorers in the Premier League between last August and December with 30 goals, but no side has scored fewer than the 10 they have managed so far in 2026.
While Villa rank fifth-highest for shots and chances created during that time, they have the worst shot conversion rate. Their xG is only 14th best, which is indicative of the fact they’re not creating high-quality chances.
Ollie Watkins (one goal in his last nine league games) and Emiliano Buendia (one in his last 15) are out of form while top scorer Morgan Rogers is being smothered by the opposition. The return of captain John McGinn from a two-month injury absence looks like it has come at just the right time.
In the run-up to Christmas when Villa were on their winning run, football experts were suggesting they were genuine title contenders. But their turndown in domestic form has left them in a real battle to stay in the top four.
A graphic showing the teams who have scored the fewest PL goals in 2026. Aston Villa are joint-bottom
Hammers’ cause for optimism
While Villa have faltered in the Premier League over the past couple of months, West Ham have found a new lease of life, and last weekend’s draw against Manchester City meant they spent a night outside the relegation zone for the first time since the beginning of December.
It was a brief respite of fewer than 24 hours, but 15 points from their last nine league games (W4, D3, L2), is one more than they had earned in their first 21 this season (W3, D5, L13).
And they remain in the drop zone only on goal difference as they are level on points with Nottingham Forest, having been seven points from safety in January.
With the Hammers also still alive in the FA Cup, it means they have lost only two of their last 12 games in all competitions.
In the draw against City, West Ham scored with their only effort on goal, a header from Konstantinos Mavropanos. The Greek centre-back epitomised a fighting spirit that should help the Hammers’ cause, making a game-high 10 clearances and four interceptions, as well as blocking an Erling Haaland shot full in the face.
That hard-earned point came in a match in which they were without the in-form Crysencio Summerville, who was nursing a calf injury. The winger, who has had seven goals and an assist across his last 13 games, is hoping to be fit for Sunday, another boost for West Ham, who haven’t won any of their six league games without him in 2025-26.
A graphic showing Premier League form over the past 10 games. West Ham are seventh.
