Starting their FA Cup campaign in this season’s third round, Premier League clubs Aston Villa and West Ham United will aim for the win in the match in Villa Park on Friday evening.
The first time two teams whose first colours are claret and blue meet in the FA cup since 1980 which West Ham won following the final than they are now both on and off the pitch.
Picking their unbeaten form at Villa Park for the current season’s top-flight encounter to nine, Aston Villa triumphed past Leicester City last weekend, and, reunited with Leon Bailey, the home side secured a remarkable 2-1 victory.
It did not turn the Villa into world-beaters but it raised their prospects of having the prospect of a European berth at the end of the campaign and lifted them to eighth in the Premier League log at the time, just behind Bournemouth, Manchester City and Newcastle United.
Aston Villa had managed only one victory in four of their last games in 2024; earning maximum points at the beginning of the new year would have put a smiling face for Unai Emery and the Birmingham club at the Bodymoor Heath training ground.
With seven FA Cup titles to their name, Villa head back to the cup knockout stage seeking to reverse a poor string of performances that saw the team and the squad losing their seven consecutive third round matches between 2017 and 2023.
Last term they actually managed to bring an end to that sequence in a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough but they have lost all six of their past home games in the cup; outside of the non-league sides, only Rotherham United have endured more consecutive home loses in the competition’s history.
This time, Villa will face West Ham - whom they beat 2-1 in the league at the beginning of the season – while wearing a commemorative 150th anniversary black kit.
When the teams rematch later this month in the Premier League, the Hammers might have changed significantly under the new leadership.
After an unsatisfactory tenure in east London, Emery's colleague Basque manager Julen Lopetegui ultimately finally got fired on Wednesday after an endless wait to end his suffering.
During his tenure, the capital club have only won six league games, and their 4-1 loss to Manchester City on Saturday was their ninth in 20 top-flight games this season.
Even though the Hammers are currently in 14th place in the table, seven points above the drop zone, they are still out of relegation danger, but the board couldn't stand losing nine goals in back-to-back games.
Even struggling Manchester City managed to defeat Lopetegui's team by four goals in their season-opening match after a 5-0 thrashing by league leaders Liverpool. This means that they have now lost by three goals or more nine times.
In fact, the team that new manager Graham Potter takes over has the poorest defensive record this season outside of the promoted teams, giving up goals at a rate of almost two per contest.
West Ham was eliminated from the FA Cup by Bristol City this time last year. They haven't lost in the third round in a row since a run of three from 2012 to 2014, but recent results indicate that few people would bet on them to win on Friday.
Unai Emery is expected to make changes to Aston Villa's starting lineup due to the growing number of injuries, especially since they have seven games in 22 days. As a result, periphery players like Ian Maatsen and Emi Buendia may be chosen.
Veteran goalie Lukasz Fabianski is still sidelined due to a concussion, and Emerson Palmieri is also doubtful due to a minor injury that prevented him from playing in last week's Premier League loss.
