West Ham player ratings: Who stood out in the draw vs. Aston Villa?

Aston Villa away in the FA Cup was Graham Potter's first game in charge of West Ham United. That day, the Hammers took the lead through a Lucas Paqueta goal but lost 2-1. Now, in Potter's fourth match in the West Ham dugout, he guided his new side to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League.

The Hammers arguably should have won the match. There may have been doubts about the impact that Potter could have mid-season after his difficult period at Chelsea. However, Potter appears to have the magic touch and has already transformed a team that was struggling under Julen Lopetegui.

West Ham are 14th in the Premier League and retain the bragging rights over Tottenham Hotspur — who are still one place below the Hammers. Supporters of the east London club will be wondering what Potter could have achieved had he been the man to replace David Moyes and not Lopetegui.

Aston Villa–West Ham Premier League player ratings

Below, we're rating the West Ham players on a scale of 1 to 10.

Goalkeeper and defenders

Alphonse Areola (GK): 7

Arealo was back in the starting lineup after being rotated with Lukasz Fabianski for much of the campaign. The French goalkeeper could do nothing about Jacob Ramsey's goal and will likely keep his place in the Hammers' goal.

Vladimir Coufal (CB): 6

Coufal should have done better to stop Ramsey going past him and giving Villa the lead. However, apart from that he was solid.

Max Kilman (CB): 8

Kilman was fantastic in organising the Hammers at the back — keeping Ollie Watkins and then Jhon Duran quiet.

Aaron Cresswell (CB): 7

Cresswell is 35 years old now, but Potter trusted him to play his first 90 minutes of the Premier League season in this game.

Midfielders

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (RM): 7

Wan-Bissaka has been allowed to play further forward under Potter. He can be a real threat on the right-hand side when putting crosses into the box.

Thomas Soucek (CM): 7

A real box-to-box performance from the tireless Soucek. He missed a great chance from a header, though. Soucek also set up Lucas Paqueta for what would have been the winner if the Czech midfielder was not offside.

Edson Alvarez (CM): 8

Alvarez provided a great ball into the box, which Emerson scored from. It was a characteristic aggressive performance from Alvarez — who had to be taken off late on for Andy Irving to avoid the Mexican picking up another booking.

Emerson (LM): 7

Emerson headed in from Alvarez's cross to equalise for the Hammers. The Italian was a threat down the left, but his crossing could have been better.

Forwards

Mohammed Kudus (AM): 6

Kudus has filled in as a false-number-nine recently but dropped back into an attacking midfield role for this game. The Ghanaian is most effective on the wing, so Potter has a conundrum in getting the best out of Kudus in his new system.

Carlos Soler (AM): 6

Soler saw his effort from a tight angle cleared off the line by Ezri Konsa. He was replaced by Danny Ings — who came close to scoring from the edge of the box.

Lucas Paqueta (CF): 9

Paqueta relished the opportunity to fill in at center-forward. He could solve West Ham's striker crisis if they do not sign a forward in the transfer window. The Brazilian would have been disappointed not to have got on the scoresheet. He thought he had netted the winner, but Soucek was offside in the buildup.

Substitutes

• Danny Ings, 7/10

• Oliver Scarles, 7/10

• Andy Irving, N/A

• Guido Rodriguez, N/A