West Ham United vs. Aston Villa, Lineups And Open Match Thread

WEST HAM UNITED

OVERALL: 0-0-0, 0 GD

POSITION: 19th

LAST 5: - - - - -

STARTING XI: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Winston Reid, George McCartney, James Collins, Guy Demel, Kevin Nolan, Matthew Taylor, Ricardo Vaz Tê, Mark Noble, Mohamed Diame, Carlton Cole.

SUBS: James Tomkins, Alou Diarra, Gary O'Neil, Stephen Henderson, Nicky Maynard, Modibo Maiga, Joey O'Brien.

ASTON VILLA

OVERALL: 0-0-0, 0 GD

POSITION: 2nd

LAST 5: - - - - -

STARTING XI: Shay Given, Matthew Lowton, Ron Vlaar, Ciaran Clark, Nathan Baker, Brett Holman, Fabian Delph, Karim El Ahmadi, Charles N'Zogbia, Stephen Ireland, Darren Bent [c].

SUBS: Barry Bannan, Chris Herd, Andi Weimann, Eric Lichaj, Graham Burke, Gary Gardner, Brad Guzan.

Welcome back, Premier League! Welcome back, Aston Villa! Welcome back, Sam Allar-nope, sorry. Can't do it.

In seriousness, this is probably a much bigger game than it's being made out to be. That sounds silly because the start of the Premier League season is a pretty big deal and all, but the style of football played by West Ham will give us a pretty good idea how far this team has progressed towards its goal of playing a more flowing, possession-emphasizing style. The results actually matter now, for both teams; this is the best look yet we'll have at how Villa will look with Paul Lambert at the helm.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

• Ricardo Vaz Tê in space.
• James Collins on set pieces.
• Movement of Aston Villa's second attacking band.
• Villa's vulnerability to the counter attack.