Both Aston Villa and West Ham will have to recover quickly from successful European nights when they meet in a pivotal Premier League clash on Sunday at the London Stadium.
Ollie Watkins scored early in the first half, Leon Bailey tallied early in the second and Villa (17-7-4, 55 points) eventually cruised to a 4-0 victory over 10-man Ajax. The win sealed their place in the UEFA Europa Conference League after the sides had played a scoreless first leg in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Kudus scored a late brace to put affairs out of reach and help West Ham (12-9-7, 43 points) reach the UEFA Europa League quarters following a 5-0 win over SC Freiburg.
And while each individual game may not have been the most trying from a physical perspective, the task of turning the page emotionally is still a difficult one.
“My objective is to recover with the players and prepare as best as possible the match on Sunday and to be competitive on Sunday because the only way to win there is being competitive,” Villa manager Unai Emery said. “I also need to be clinical in every decision I take tactically.”
And while both sides comfortably moved on in their European competitions, they both have everything to play for in the league in terms of reaching Europe next season.
Villa is only two points clear of Tottenham Hotspur in the battle for the fourth and final UEFA Champions League place after Spurs’ 4-0 win at Villa Park last weekend.
Spurs also enters the weekend holding a match in hand, while Villa still have matches against all of the top three sides in the table remaining.
“They’re a very good side and the manager is doing a brilliant job there,” West Ham manager David Moyes said of Emery’s team. “He’s now got them into a quarterfinal of the Europa Conference League, which is a great achievement, and they are knocking on the door of Champions League football too.”
Meanwhile, West Ham is unbeaten in the past three matches in the league to restart the challenge for a third consecutive European season. That form — following a miserable run of eight games in all competitions without a victory — coincided with the return of attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta from an injury spell.
The Hammers begin the weekend seventh during a campaign that could see at least the top eight league finishers qualify for one of the UEFA tournaments. And Paqueta should be rested enough after his departure just after the hour-mark on Thursday with the game well in hand.
–Field Level Media