'An upset' - Pundits disagree in West Ham vs Aston Villa prediction

Aston Villa return to action when they play West Ham United at the London Stadium on Sunday (2pm).

Villa are flying with three wins from as many matches with nine goals scored across defeats of Brighton and Hove Albion, Southampton and Leeds United.

Elland Road was the scene of Villa's latest win with Leeds put to the sword thanks to goals from Philippe Coutinho, Matty Cash and Calum Chambers.

Steven Gerrard 's men face a stern test in the form of Champions League battlers West Ham this weekend with David Moyes' side well in the race to finish in the top four despite managing only one win in their last four games.

Speaking to website Sportskeeda, former Villa midfielder Paul Merson is backing what he calls an 'upset' on Sunday with his old side tipped to win 2-1.

This is a big game," Merson said.

"Three weeks ago, you’d think this is a 'give-me' game for West Ham.

"But Villa are in a real vein of form now, and they’ve done well under Gerrard.

"West Ham will probably have one eye on their game against Sevilla, and I’m going to back Villa to pull off a bit of an upset here."

Meanwhile Gerrard's old pal from his time at Liverpool, Michael Owen, is on the fence with a 1-1 draw backed by the BetVictor pundit.

"West Ham’s last two defeats, to Liverpool and Sevilla, must have frustrated Moyes," he said.

"They were both 1-0 defeats, and they had chances in both games. I’ll be curious to see how they respond here.

Villa have found some form, three wins in a row, nine goals scored, and none conceded.

"The star of the show has obviously been Coutinho.

"I expected him to play well for Villa, but I didn’t expect this much of an impact.

"Villa will be desperate to make this a permanent signing.

"There’s really not much between