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Villa, meanwhile, will look to play a narrow three in midfield, with Zaniolo targeting Digne or any space he leaves. Luiz, Kamara and McGinn v Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Paquetá and Soucek should be a terrific midfield battle, and though I fancy Villa’s front two find a way to win this, there’s every chance the bigger difference is not between them and the West Ham back four but between the Villa back four and West Ham’s front three.
So where is this game? My guess is West Ham look to keep things tight, to release Bowen and Antonio on the counter, and try getting Ward-Prowse into crossing positions. What they have now that’s new, though, is a player – Paquetá – who can hold the ball and probe “in and around” the box. I daresay they also fancy putting Antonio up against Torres, whether back to goal or attacking the space in behind, and punishing any sorties forward made by Cash and Digne.
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