Statistical Preview: West Ham vs Aston Villa

Both West Ham and Aston Villa enter this fixture looking to improve on indifferent starts to their respective seasons.

- West Ham held Swansea to a 0-0 draw last Sunday, extending their impressive defensive record away from home. Winston Reid must take some of the credit for this as, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, the Kiwi made 5 interceptions against the Swans – the fourth most in the league.

- Mark Noble is a creative lynchpin in the West Ham midfield, and he was pulling the strings for the Hammers again on Saturday completing 22 passes in Swansea’s half. So far this term, Noble has completed 208 passes in the opposition half – more than any of his teammates.

- The signing of Stewart Downing looked to be a shrewd move by Sam Allardyce, as he has an undeniable quality when it comes to delivering the ball. So it is perhaps unsurprising that the England man tops the West Ham crossing charts with 11. Downing is 13/1 with 888sport.com to score at any time on Saturday.

- Slightly more surprising, however, is that Mohammed Diame has completed the most dribbles for West Ham – completing 20.

- Ivory Coast full back Guy Demel has made 7 appearances so far this season for West Ham, and has proved to be defensively astute in each of them. The former Arsenal man has been showcasing his excellent tackling ability, as the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index highlights that his tackle success rate is over 93%.

- Aston Villa succumbed to a disappointing home defeat to Everton, with Tim Howard saving a penalty from Christian Benteke.

- Andreas Weimann may feel slightly at fault for Aston Villa’s inability to hit the back on Saturday, as the talented Austrian took 5 shots but failed to hit the target once. If you fancy Weimann to improve his fortunes against West Ham head over to 888sport.com as he is 8/1 to score the first goal of the match. 

- Nathan Baker is a young Englishman who Aston Villa have high hopes for, with the West Midlands club offering him a new deal in May of this year. The defender was willing to put his body on the line against Everton as he made 3 blocks – the second most in the league.  

- He may have missed a penalty for the Villains on Saturday, but the return of Christian Benteke will be a real boost for Aston Villa as they have certainly missed his shooting ability. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index demonstrates that the Belgian has taken 14 shots this season, hitting the target in an impressive 71% of his efforts. 

- As we approach the quarter-way point in the season it is interesting to see the players that Paul Lambert sees as the core of his team. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index highlights that Fabian Delph, Brad Guzan and Ron Vlaar are the only players in the Villa squad who have played in every minute of every Premier League match this season.

Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars at http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ or with FIFA Ultimate Team for FIFA 14