Aston Villa take on West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday in a game which bears huge significance even this early in the campaign.

The two teams have only one win from six top-flight matches combined this season, losing the other five, leaving both of them firmly in the bottom half.

Improvement is needed, and fast, for both managers as they aim to secure a top-half finish and potential European football next term.

Ahead of the clash at Villa Park, though, Steven Gerrard has been given a massive lift on the injury front, and it could spark an upturn in form for the Midlands club.

Villa have no new injury concerns

The 42-year-old spoke before Sunday's match about his team and the latest injury news, saying: “Obviously you’re well aware of Diego, and Kortney moving on. We’re fully fit, Luda [Ludwig Augustinsson] has trained today, he missed midweek with a tweak in his knee area, but he’s fine.

"So we should be healthy going into the weekend, we’ve obviously got tomorrow’s session to go prior to the game, so fingers crossed we should be in good health."

This will be good news for the manager and the Villa faithful, who will be desperate to start winning and climbing the table.

Last week's performance against Crystal Palace was poor, with only five players averaging a rating of seven or higher on SofaScore, and it marked Villa’s eighth Premier League defeat in their previous 14 fixtures.

Gerrard might shuffle his pack ahead of the fixture, with Douglas Luiz performing well against Palace - completing 100% of his passes, taking 27 touches and making two key passes at Selhurst Park – so he could be drafted in from the start in place of either John McGinn or Jacob Ramsey, their two lowest-rated performers against the Eagles.

It presents an ideal opportunity for the 42-year-old to get Villa’s campaign back on track, especially against a West Ham side who only played on Thursday evening, with fatigue likely to be a factor, so the home side will have to try and take advantage of that.

With a full squad available apart from the aforementioned long-term absentee Diego Carlos, the Villa manager has plenty of options at his disposal, in what is a welcome boost for Gerrard amid reports that he is coming under pressure in the hot seat.