Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham – Premier League LIVE: Ollie Watkins powers home to restore two-goal lead for hosts after Jarrod Bowen had cut deficit following Douglas Luiz’s double

Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for all the latest updates from Villa Park as Aston Villa host West Ham in the Premier League.

Aston Villa 3-1 West Ham

West Ham aren’t done yet!

Michail Antonio displayed superb strength to barrel his way down the left and let fly at goal with a powerful effort.

Emi Martinez just about beat away and Jarrod Bowen, craning his head in an acrobatic leap, was inches away from making contact.

Aston Villa 3-1 West Ham

Villa have made a change.

Nicolo Zaniolo has made way for Leon Bailey.

He will bring some fresh legs down that flank.

GOAL! Aston Villa 3-1 West Ham (Watkins, 74)

WHAT A FINISH! Pick that one out!

Ollie Watkins was released toward the box down the right and stood up Kurt Zouma before dropping his shoulder deftly.

Despite the tight angle, he blasted beyond the rooted Alphonse Areola, who was wrong-footed all ends up, and into the roof of the net.

Unai Emery let loose a big roar. Villa have their two-goal lead back.

Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham

There’s tension inside this ground now!

West Ham are pressing hard for a leveller.

All of a sudden, Aston Villa have lost any semblance of a rhythm.

Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham

West Ham have made their first change.

Tomas Soucek has made way for Mohammed Kudus.

What impact can the midfielder have? He’s a bright spark alright!

Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham

Mohammed Kudus is stripped and ready to come on.

West Ham are continuing to probe and came close to a leveller when Matty Cash nodded over Nayef Aguerd’s goalbound effort.

VAR then briefly checked for a potential handball against Ezri Konsa but the review was brief. Nothing doing.

Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham

That’s five goals in Jarrod Bowen’s last five away Premier League games! What an achievement for the in-form winger.

This game has certainly shifted now with West Ham pressing.

Villa need to get their foot on the ball and settle.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham (Bowen, 56)

West Ham have one back! That came from nowhere!

Jarrod Bowen got away down the right and fired in a low cross.

The ball then struck Lucas Digne and beat Emi Martinez.

It’s a fluke but game on!

Aston Villa 2-0 West Ham

Emerson has gone into the book.

West Ham are starting to lose their cool and look ragged.

Matty Cash broke away down the right before the full back brought him down. He is suspended for next weekend’s match against Everton.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 West Ham (Luiz, 51)

As cool as you like!

Douglas Luiz stepped up and sent his effort straight down the middle. He has his second, and Villa’s as well!

The hosts are in full control of this one now.

PENALTY!

Villa have a spot-kick!

Lucas Paqueta gave the ball away in a dangerous area and Ezri Konsa latched onto it before taking a touch toward the byline.

Edson Alvarez looked to steal in but took the defender out, with the referee pointing to the spot after a very brief pause.

Aston Villa 1-0 West Ham

West Ham have made a tweak in midfield, with James Ward-Prowse given more freedom to push forward.

Will that make a difference?

Oh, hang on a second…

BACK UNDERWAY!

Here we go for the second half!

HALF TIME – Aston Villa 1-0 West Ham

There goes the whistle.

That was a superb half of football.

For much of the half, it was end-to-end action, but it is the hosts who hold the advantage at the halfway mark after Douglas Luiz’s opener.

Join us shortly for the rest of the action!

Aston Villa 1-0 West Ham

We’re into two minutes of added time.

Aston Villa 1-0 West Ham

Almost an equaliser for the visitors.

A long throw sparked all sorts of havoc inside the box and James Ward-Prowse lofted an inviting delivery up into the air.

Lucas Paqueta tried an ambitious bicycle kick but hooked wide.

Aston Villa 1-0 West Ham

Oh dear. James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick went straight into the wall.

It was going in, though, making that a crucial block for the hosts.

Aston Villa 1-0 West Ham

VAR check! But no penalty. This is in James Ward-Prowse territory!

A West Ham corner was cleared as far as Edson Alvarez, who cannoned a shot toward the onrushing Ezri Konsa, who handled.

The replays were examined to see if Konza had been inside the box for the handball, but he was on the right side of the 18-yard line.

Aston Villa 1-0 West Ham

Almost a quickfire second for Villa!

Ollie Watkins was neatly threaded in down the left and he looked to squeeze an effort inside the near post.

Alphonse Areola denied him with a strong stop.

GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 West Ham (Luiz, 30)

Villa take the lead! That had been coming!

Unsurprisingly, Moussa Diaby was right at the centre of the move.

He released Ollie Watkins down the left, and he linked up with Nicolo Zaniolo. Watkins then picked up the ball and rolled to Douglas Luiz.

The midfielder crashed through a crowd of bodies and in.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

The hosts are pushing for the opener!

Douglas Luiz fed Moussa Diaby on the edge of the box, but the winger could only drag his effort wide of the target.

Nicolo Zaniolo then did brilliantly in twisting and turning on the left, though his cross was too close to Alphonse Areola.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

West Ham broke out on a rare foray but the attack broke down.

Douglas Luiz was then able to carry the ball out from the back.

The move ended with Lucas Digne whipping a ball into the danger zone, with Alphonse Areola fielding well.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

Villa are certainly on top now.

John McGinn released Moussa Diaby away down the right and his early cross toward Ollie Watkins was hacked out by Kurt Zouma.

Shortly after, Ezri Konza sliced a shot from an inviting corner across the face of goal and back out to McGinn, with West Ham clearing.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

Ollie Watkins should have scored! I’m not quite sure how he missed.

Moussa Diaby broke away down the inside right channel and rolled an expertly weighted ball into the feet of the striker, who turned.

With the goal at his mercy, though, he rolled an effort just wide.

That’s a big miss.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

SAVE! That’s a stunning stop from Alphonse Areola.

Douglas Luiz picked up the ball on the edge of the box and looked to bend one toward the far top corner.

It was certainly destined to ripple the net, but Areola sprung acrobatically to his left to tip over the crossbar.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

There’s been plenty of action at both ends.

James Ward-Prowse won the ball back high but failed to play through Lucas Paqueta with a deft chip, surrendering back possession.

John McGinn then stepped in and raced the length of the field before looking to thread in Nicolo Zaniolo, with Vladimir Coufal intercepting.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

Villa have steadied the ship somewhat after that rocky opening.

Both sides have looked to get in behind with speed in these early exchanges but neither have slipped into any sort of rhythm.

An intriguing start.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

We almost had a breakthrough in the first minute – but the flag was up!

West Ham probed right from the off, with Michail Antonio playing the ball to the feet of Lucas Paqueta inside the box.

He then teed up Jarrod Bowen to shoot, with Emi Martinez beating away. Paqueta had been in an offside position, however.

KICK OFF!

We’re underway!

10-minute warning!

Not long now until kick-off, so don’t go anywhere!

Moyes: We want competition

David Moyes speaking to Sky Sports…

'Sometimes I get told I can't win at certain grounds but this one I have a good record at so hopefully I can keep it up.

'It's really important that we get settled and with the European and cup games we've had to rotate the squad, I want competition.

'Hopefully we can show how we have been playing in the early part of the season. If you look over the years Aston Villa have grown greatly.'

Warm-ups underway!

The players are being put through their paces ahead of kick-off!

We have just 20 minutes before we get underway.

Let’s have some score predictions. Drop them in the comments below.

Back in town

Remember this man? I’m sure you do!

That’s right, Dean Smith is back at his former club on media duties.

A little earlier, he even interviewed Unai Emery for Sky Sports.

It’s fair to say he’s still very popular round these parts.

Emery: No top four chase

Unai Emery speaking to Sky Sports…

'Everything we did is fantastic but we are still very demanding. We try to take new challenges in front and today is one of them.

'The players are ready to play, we know we have to be 100 per cent focused to win the match. They are playing very well, they are comfortable playing matches.

'We were not top four contenders at the beginning of the season, we are still not. Some teams are improving a lot. Chelsea and Man Utd are behind us. But we are dreaming.

'Every match we are focused to do the best we can. We want to be in the top five in the league. Each match is important for us, trying to be demanding.'

Visitors unchanged

David Moyes has named the same side that drew 2-2 at home to Newcastle in their last match before the international break.

Both Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson remain sidelined with injuries.

Danny Ings is on the bench today on his return to his former club.

Zaniolo starts

Villa have made one change from their 1-1 draw with Wolves last time out, with Nicolo Zaniolo handed a start.

He is assisting with an Italian investigation into alleged illegal betting activity but is available for selection this weekend.

Diego Carlos is the man to drop out.

West Ham XI

Starting XI: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Alvarez, Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio

Substitutes: Fabianski, Fornals, Kudus, Mavropanos, Ings, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer, Mubama

Villa XI

Starting XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, McGinn, Kamara, Luiz, Zaniolo, Diaby, Watkins

Substitutes: Olsen, Carlos, Tielemans, Traore, Chambers, Lenglet, Bailey, Dendoncker, Kellyman

Emery's verdict

Unai Emery gave his thoughts on West Ham at his press conference.

Here’s what he had to say…

'Very difficult football match. I respect West Ham, the players, the club, Moyes, and I think they are being like last year or two years ago.

'Defensively very strong and their commitment, structure, is really strong.

'They have added this year keeping ball possession and better than last year. They are playing comfortable and they are feeling confident playing this year I think better than last year.

'It will be a very difficult match, they are two points behind us. They were the team who struggled last year in the Premier League, but they were successful in the Europa Conference League.'

Home fortress

Villa have a sensational home record that West Ham will be desperate to smash today. If they do, they will leapfrog their hosts.

Unai Emery’s side are on the hunt for their 11th straight league victory at Villa Park and can move ahead of Newcastle and into fifth place.

West Ham, though, have won on their last three visits here.

Good afternoon!

Hello, all! I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday.

Welcome along to our live blog for this afternoon’s only Premier League kick-off, with Aston Villa and West Ham locking horns.

Both these teams are bang in form and separated by just two points.

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