West Ham United’s hopes of Premier League survival could take a major hit when they play Aston Villa on Sunday – according to pundit Chris Sutton.
Sutton is one of the UK’s more high-profile pundits and offers his predictions on a weekly basis to BBC Sport.
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The former Chelsea and Blackburn striker has consistently overlooked West Ham United in recent weeks, despite their revival under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Indeed, West Ham play Aston Villa on Sunday, and Sutton believes it will simply be a case of shutting Jarrod Bowen down for Unai Emery’s side.
Sutton says shutting down Bowen will see Villa beat West Ham 2-1
Writing in his BBC Sport column, Sutton predicted a 2-1 win for Villa, and suggested that merely shutting down Bowen would be enough for Sunday’s hosts.
He said: “Aston Villa have lost their past three Premier League games, while West Ham are showing plenty of resilience and have been picking up points.
“Morgan Rogers scored a couple of crackers when Villa fought back to beat the Hammers earlier in the season, and this is going to be just as close.
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“Villa boss Unai Emery is cutting a frustrated figure at the moment with their loss of form, but they are still in fourth place.
“They are going to get back on track at some point and, if they can keep Jarrod Bowen quiet, then I see them edging this one at home.”
That does feel harsh on Nuno’s side. While Bowen is no doubt the star player in east London, it’s a team effort.
Though he is clearly a difference maker, it’s not as if West Ham’s rise up the table has been down to one man and one man alone.
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Bowen’s record against Aston Villa
This is an absolutely huge game for West Ham and while Bowen isn’t their only hope, they will clearly need him to be at his best at Villa Park.
Crysencio Summerville’s injury places even more pressure on the England international, who does boast a strong individual record against the Midlands giants.
In 14 games against Villa over the course of his career, Bowen has scored six goals while registering one assist.
In fact, Bowen has only scored more goals against Brentford in his career to date.
Bowen continues to lead West Ham from the front, so part of what Sutton is saying makes sense.
The beauty of this team, however, is that there are other players on which to lean. Mateus Fernandes, Tomas Soucek, Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos could all feasibly make impacts too.
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