West Ham United travel to Birmingham to face Aston Villa on Monday night in the first Premier League fixture after the international break.
The Hammers came into the two-week break with a 2-0 win against Norwich in which Sebastien Haller opened the scoring before Andriy Yarmolenko scored his first goal in over 11 months after a lengthy injury.
And now Manuel Pellegrini’s man will look to continue their three-game unbeaten run as they travel up north to the Villa Park.
But Aston Villa, oppositely to their guests, lost their pre-break game. The Villans were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace at the Selhurst Park.
That game also saw their £8m summer signing Trezeguet concede a red card, which makes him unavailable to face West Ham.
But it looks like the Egyptian might not be a big miss, and that’s because of the player we believe to be Aston Villa’s danger man.
Anwar El Ghazi
After two very disappointing seasons in Ligue 1 with LOSC, the AFC Ajax academy product arrived on the Villa Park on a season-long loan in the summer of 2018.
And he immediately became a fan favourite as he scored one and assisted one in his first two Championship games, unfortunately, followed by a month of fitness struggles.
After coming back, the winger instantly found himself back on the scoresheet in a memorable 5-5 draw against Nottingham Forest on November 2018.
Overall, El Ghazi finished the 2018/19 campaign on six goals and six assists, including an opening goal against Derby County in the play-off final. That was enough to convince Dean Smith to spend over £6m to retain his services.
Although this season the Dutchman spent only 178 minutes on the pitch, he’s already managed to score one goal in a 2-0 win against Everton.
And the game against West Ham might be a big chance for him to confirm his first-team status.
Ryan Fredericks will most definitely have a tough time against the powerful, pacey, and skilful winger. And with the absence of Trezeguet, he’s pretty much guaranteed to play a big part of the game.
