Aston Villa are heading in search of their third straight win in the Premier League as travel away from home to face West Ham United at the London Stadium.

Unai Emery’s side have beaten Crystal Palace and Everton, without conceding a goal, in their last two outings in the division, having lost their previous three matches.

They are up against a Hammers team who have lost their last two domestic fixtures and conceded a whopping seven goals in the process – against Manchester United and Brighton.

Should Jhon Duran start against West Ham?

David Moyes’ side have shown their defensive frailty in those two losses and Emery must pounce on that by finally unleashing January signing Jhon Duran from the start this afternoon.

Emi Buendia lined up behind Ollie Watkins in Villa’s last match and failed to make a big impact on the game. As per Sofascore, the Argentine international created one chance and had one shot, which was blocked, whilst losing nine of his 12 individual duels.

The maestro, who has scored four goals and failed to provide any assists in 25 Premier League matches, has not offered a consistent threat in the final third and bringing in another striker to partner Watkins could expose West Ham’s weakness at the back.

Duran has only featured as a substitute since arriving from Chicago Fire earlier this year but his form in the MLS in 2022 suggests that the potential is there for him to be a quality option for Emery to call upon.

The 19-year-old delivered eight goals and three assists in 14 MLS starts last year and earned himself three caps for Colombia’s senior side at international level.

Talent scout Jacek Kulig once described him as a “powerful” striker with an aerial “threat” and the youngster clearly used his physical attributes to become a reliable attacking outlet for his former team in America last term.

It is now down to the 6 foot 1 talent to prove himself in the Premier League and, to do that, Emery must offer him the chance to showcase his abilities against the Hammers today.

Pairing Duran with Watkins, who has scored five goals in his last six appearances in the division, could cause West Ham a lot of problems with their goalscoring potential, whereas Buendia has been far from prolific as an attacking midfielder. Therefore, the Villa boss must unleash the Colombian gem from the start and move the Argentine playmaker aside for this match.