West Ham week: looking ahead and wondering if Villa can score for the first time in weeks

Villa are finally entering the easier part of their schedule. Can they pick up some much-needed points? We take a look back at last week and then ahead to the match against West Ham.

Just The Facts, Please

Form (Last 5, most recent first): L L D W W

Results Last Week: Aston Villa 0-2 Everton (EPL)

Upcoming Fixtures:

• First Team:
  at West Ham United (EPL) - Saturday, November 2, 1500 GMT, 1100 Eastern

Tracking Villa's Progress

A look at how Aston Villa are doing compared to corresponding fixtures from last season. For a more full explanation of the corresponding fixtures table, see here.

The West Ham match is the last chance for a while in which Villa can pick up some points that they didn't get last year. In the 10 fixtures Villa have played thus far this season they got four points last year (including zero when they visited West Ham). In the next three matches, (including substituting Cardiff for QPR) they got seven. Three points on Saturday would be a huge relief.

Injuries

New Injuries Last Week:

• Marc Albrighton - throat surgery
• Antonio Luna - foot (expected back for West Ham)

Transfer Rumor Roundup

• Yeah, I'm bringing this back this week, though there aren't a ton. The main issue here is Christian Benteke.
• We heard this week that Tottenham were back in for the big Belgian striker. We also learned that Arsenal were interested. As were Liverpool. As were the Italians.
• As a quick reminder: Benteke will cost a HUGE amount of money in January. The likelihood of him moving is very slim. But don't expect these rumours to stop any time soon. It's going to be a long few months.

Match Notes

Aston Villa 0-2 Everton (EPL)
Romelu Lukaku (68’), Leon Osman (81’)

• We all had a feeling that it was going to be a long day when this happened in the eighth minute:
  
  
• That was just the first of multiple missed opportunities for Aston Villa in the first half. By all rights, they should have been leading by at least two heading into halftime. But a combination of poor finishing and the awesome power of Tim Howard's beard prevented that from happening.
• And then, in the second half, Villa let all of their great work go for naught:
  
  Quickly followed by:
  
  
• And now, Aston Villa will have gone more than a month since scoring a goal by the time they take the pitch on Saturday. Ugh.
• Aaron, in his recap, makes the point that this match was all the more disappointing for the fact that Villa played some of the best football we've seen from them all season in the first hour of this match.
• The WhoScored recap is here.

Looking Ahead

• So yeah, Villa could use a win. And there's good news: they're going on the road! Finally! And at home, West Ham are a lot like Villa: one win and three losses.
• Yesterday, West Ham went to Swansea and managed to snag a point in a deluge. The game was a pretty boring goalless draw, but there really isn't too much to be taken from it.
• West Ham have stayed treading water by having a stout defense this season, only allowing 8 goals. That puts them tied for fourth in the league. Like Villa, though, they've had a toothless offense, also scoring only 8. At home, West Ham has allowed seven and scored five (compare this to Villa's five scored and three allowed on the road). So if you're looking for betting advice, don't put anything on both teams to score or the over.
• Now, given that solid advice, I fully expect a 4-5 or 5-4 match. You're welcome.
• We will, of course, have all of the match preview information and news that you could hope for this week.

-----

Thanks, as always, for reading. Check in every weekday for the latest edition of Kickin' It. Be sure to join us in the comments, where anything goes!

Not a member? Join 7500 to Holte and start commenting | Follow @7500toHolte on Twitter