Nuno Espirito Santo’s impact on West Ham United is obvious – according to Aston Villa boss Unai Emery.
It took a while, but West Ham United’s decision to appoint Nuno in September 2025 now appears to be paying off.
What changes would you make to this team against Aston Villa? 🤔
Harsh on Todibo but we NEED to win
A graphic showing the lineup that West Ham United should pick against Aston Villa in the Premier League on 19/03/2026.
Credit: GRV Media
Indeed, West Ham are in strong form before they play Villa in a huge Premier League game on Sunday.
While Emery’s side sit fourth in the table as it stands, the form table tells a very different story. Over the past ten games, Villa are 18th and West Ham are seventh.
Emery appears to recognise that.
Emery praises Nuno at West Ham
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s game at Villa Park, Emery said: “I can speak again about West Ham, the club or about the coach.
“And this connection is really fantastic because West Ham is a great club and, of course, in Premier League, now they are struggling in the bottom.
“But progressively they are getting better clearly with Nuno Espirito Santo.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
“His experience is really amazing, managing a different moment in his career as a coach, with teams like West Ham performing fantastic, playing in Europe and competing with their personality and Nuno’s personality.
Optimist or Realist? Share your number and defend it in the comments
A graphic asking West Ham United fans how confident they are of Premie League survivial on a scale of 1-10.
Credit: Getty Images/James Gill – Danehouse
“They are now the last two matches they played, they only lost two, they have lost two against Liverpool and against Chelsea in the last minute. It means a lot.”
There are certainly reasons to believe that West Ham can get all three points on Sunday, despite Villa’s lofty position.
Emery’s side were in European action on Thursday night and they have not been in great domestic form anyway.
They are winless in four games, having lost their last three. Previously a force to be reckoned with when playing at home, they’ve lost three of their last six games.
The Irons desperately need to win this given relegation rivals Tottenham and Nottingham Forest are playing each other, and it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if they did exactly that.
Nuno Espirito Santo gestures during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester City
Photo by Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Nuno’s record against Emery
Having both worked in England and Spain, Nuno and Emery have come up against each other ten times.
Emery has won four of those during his spells at Sevilla, Arsenal and Villa.
There have been three draws, while Nuno has beaten Emery as manager of Valencia, Wolves and Nottingham Forest over the course of his career.
The Hammers boss is currently on three wins against Emery and will almost certainly need to add to that tally on Sunday if his team are to stand any hope of staying in the Premier League this season.
It will be fascinating to see how it all plays out.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox