Written by: @JGriffithJourno

Monday night’s trip to Villa Park proved difficult for the Hammers, but who stood out as they held on for a decent point against the Villains?

Lukasz Fabianski – 8

Our undisputed most important player at this point, Fabianski was at his best against Aston Villa. A big punch to clear a high ball asserted his dominance while a save at full stretch following a low drive from John McGinn was the best of his five saves.

Ryan Fredericks – 6

Kept El-Ghazi quiet all game and provided a useful threat going forward. Still needs to improve on his final ball and decision making in the final third.

Issa Diop – 6

Caught out of position when flying out of defence, but that is the norm with Diop at this point. Still solid enough as he claimed another clean sheet alongside a rejuvenated Angelo Ogbonna.

Angelo Ogbonna – 6

His positional sense is looking a lot better as he and Diop combined to restrict the lively Wesley to just one shot. If Ogbonna turns this good form into consistent performances he may just have a renascence late in his career.

Arthur Masuaku – 5

Uncharacteristically quiet going forward before a couple of fouls resulted in a red card. The second yellow was harsh, but he should know better than to dive in while he is on a yellow card.

Declan Rice – 8

Our man of the match on the night. Rice completed six tackles and interceptions while 96% of his passes were accurate. While the rest of the midfield struggled, Rice kept a mature head and stood out once again, showing why he is one of the best defensive midfielders in the league.

Mark Noble – 5

An unusually poor game from the skipper as he was lucky not to receive a red card after a blatant dive in the box. His passing was wide of the mark and he was bypassed time and time again by the energetic Villa midfielders. Noble should’ve been the man that made way after the red, not Anderson.

Andriy Yarmolenko – 5

Failed to make a single dribble. His pace is near-anonymous, and his shooting was nowhere near the level it needs to be. Could be dropped for Fornals for the United game this weekend.

Manuel Lanzini – 6

Looked lively to begin with but struggled to create anything of note. Lanzini will be one of our most important players this season but he went missing against Villa.

Felipe Anderson – 6

Our most dangerous player in the first half with everything good going through the Brazilian. Unfortunately, he was sacrificed following Masuaku’s red before he was unable to stamp any authority onto the game.

Sebastien Haller – 6

Considering his lack of service, Haller did well to manage two shots and create two chances for his teammates. Overall a quiet game for the Frenchman though.

Subs:

Pablo Zabaleta – 6

Did his job in an unfamiliar left-back role but offered nothing more than ‘good enough’ after coming on.

Pablo Fornals – 6

His most lively performance so far, but still not good enough yet. If his confidence was brimming, he gets that pass spot on at the death and we win 1-0. Still needs some time but is looking better.

Fabian Balbuena – N/A

Literally touched the ball 0 times. Honestly, look it up.