Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has noticed something very different about West Ham, but he couldn’t be more wrong

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Aston Villa welcome West Ham United to Villa Park for the 16:30 Premier League kick-off on Sunday afternoon.

Unai Emery has been speaking glowingly about West Ham ahead of this weekend’s match up.

READ ALSO: David Moyes provides Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez fitness update ahead of Aston Villa vs West Ham clash

Aston Villa are flying high in the table but so are the Hammers, and David Moyes will undoubtedly fancy his side’s chances on Sunday.

We haven’t lost to Villa in all competitions since 2015 and have won five out of our last six meetings with them.

Emery is clearly aware that we’ll pose a threat but he might have pegged us wrong…

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has noticed something very different about West Ham

The Spaniard addressed the media this afternoon ahead of the Premier League showdown between Villa and the Hammers this weekend.

And Emery told reporters just how much he respects West Ham, as quoted by AVFC.co.uk:

“It will be a very difficult match. I respect West Ham a lot – the players, the club, David Moyes. They are being very strong defensively, committed defensively. Their structure is very, very strong and it’s always difficult to beat them. This year they are playing keeping ball possession better than last year. They are playing comfortably and feeling confident. They are playing better than last year.”

Well, West Ham are definitely playing better as a team this season, there’s no doubting that. However, Emery’s claim that we’re playing more of a possession-based system couldn’t be further from the truth.

This season, the Hammers have averaged 37.9% (Fbref) possession, whilst last term, we had and average of 42.1% of the ball (Fbref).

The stats are there in black and white. Every West Ham fan will know that this term, Moyes has reverted to the counter attacking system that served him so well in the past.

As a result, we’ve had less of the ball than we did last season , but we’re so much more dangerous and direct on the counter.

Aston Villa play host to West Ham on Sunday, and if Unai Emery is expecting us to play a possession-based system at Villa Park, he’ll be in for a rude awakening.

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