West Ham United have enjoyed an excellent start to the 2023/24 season and David Moyes certainly looks buoyed after claiming the Europa Conference League trophy last term – the first major trophy win of his long managerial career.

They have lost just twice across all competitions this season, and those were to Liverpool and Manchester City, while the club currently occupy seventh place in the Premier League table, just six points from the summit.

The international break came at just the wrong time for the Hammers, but they return this afternoon with a clash against high-flyers Aston Villa, and it promises to be an enthralling game.

What is the West Ham team news vs Aston Villa?

The break has given Moves a chance to regroup and focus on further challenges ahead, and it appears as though he may only be missing a couple of players for the match today.

Speaking to the media ahead of the match, Moyes said: "The international lads, at the moment, they seem okay. We saw two of them for the first time this morning but the game being on Sunday helps us.

"Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson are coming on. I think Ben might just be a bit ahead but, are they ready yet? I'm not quite sure yet."

The Scot may well resort to using the same starting XI that secured a draw against Newcastle United in their last fixture before the international break, yet he should be cautious about fielding one player who was poor against the Magpies – Michail Antonio.

Should Michail Antonio be dropped against Aston Villa?

The forward has featured nine times this season and has scored twice while also grabbing an assist, yet at 33-years-old, it’s evident that his prime years are behind him.

Against Newcastle, Antonio was deployed as a lone striker, yet he failed to shine and was substituted with 15 minutes to go. Throughout his time on the pitch, he managed to complete just ten successful passes while also taking just 23 touches as he clearly failed to get involved with the game.

His attacking statistics were also poor as the frontman failed to take a single shot when he was on the pitch while making zero key passes and completing only one successful dribble.

Over the course of the league season so far, Antonio currently ranks fifth for goals and assists (three) while ranking sixth for shots on target per game (0.4), seventh for big chances created (one) and eighth for key passes per game (0.5), indicating that he is not exactly having the most positive of impacts across the team.

Indeed, this form has carried on from last season, where he netted 14 times across 48 matches, but Josh Bunting dubbed him “very poor” back in March for his performances during the 2022/23 campaign.

Indeed, when compared to his positional peers in Europe's top five leagues over the previous 12 months, Antonio fails to rank in the top 70% with regard to non-penalty goals per 90 (0.23), total shots per 90 (1.62) and touches in the opposition box per 90 (3.48) and this is further evidence that his career is slowly entering into a decline.

Given that he will be 34 by the time the current season comes to close, he must surely be entering the final furlong of his West Ham career. He has scored 77 goals for the club since joining back in 2015, but Moyes must soon start to utilise other players ahead of Antonio.

With Mohammed Kudus arriving at the club this summer, he has someone who will be a star for West Ham over the next few years and while centre-forward isn’t his main position, there is no doubt he could slot into a space vacated by Antonio with ease.

Could Mohammed Kudus start for West Ham United against Aston Villa?

The youngster was one of the most in-demand players over the summer and a move to West Ham surprised just about everyone, yet it has worked out extremely well.

He cost the club £38m from Ajax, having scored 18 goals across all competitions for the Dutch side last season and the move could be a shrewd piece of business by Moyes.

£44m

£38m

£38m

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£33m

Kudus has started just three games for the club since arriving and has featured either in an attacking midfield role or on the right wing, but he could certainly operate further forward if he so wishes.

The former Ajax starlet has scored twice for West Ham so far and over the previous 12 months, he has showcased his vast attacking talents which rank him highly when compared to his peers.

Indeed, the Ghanian has impressed on the continent. When compared to positional peers, Kudus ranks in the top 2% for total shots per 90 (3.42), the top 1% for successful take-ons per 90 (4.61) and the top 3% for touches in the attacking penalty area per 90 (5.96), which gives a clear impression of just how well suited he would be at operating as a lone forward for Moyes.

The 23-year-old has everything in his locker to enable him to reach the very top of the game and impressing at West Ham will be the first stage of this process.

Moyes might not want to change a team which has built up some solid momentum over the previous few weeks, but dropping Antonio from the starting XI could give them a major boost against a Villa side who are also riding the crest of a wave.

Kudus has made a more than decent start to life in London, and it is now time he forces his way into the starting lineup on a consistent basis to prove to Moyes that he was worth the vast sum of money that was paid for him.

Defeating Villa won't be an easy task; however, West Ham have already beaten Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion this season, clearly demonstrating they can secure a positive result if required.

Kudus could be central to securing all three points and Moyes must unleash him in place of Antonio today.