England Premier League
Sunday 20th August 2023
Kick off at 2pm BST
Venue: Villa Park
Match Preview:
When you lose in the manner that Aston Villa did on the opening weekend of the season then your next game which is the first at home is when your season really begins. Granted Villa came into the Newcastle game as the underdogs but not by a scoreline of 5-1 and that’s what happened. Villa actually played some good football but they went toe to toe with an attacking Newcastle side away from home and while that entertained us, it wasn’t exactly the best tactic. However Unai Emery’s Villa side remain a good one and shouldn’t be too harshly judged on this scoreline and they will certainly be a threat for Everton.
The pressure cauldron remains as hot as ever for Everton who are coming into this season on the back of two dreadful campaigns where they survived in the top flight by the skin of their teeth. This campaign got off to a poor start as they lost 1-0 at home to Fulham. However the Toffees played some good football and created more chances than Fulham, that is why, for now, the heat is off them. However football moves quick and if they were to get beaten here no matter their performance the critics will be sharpening their knives once more. The real worry for Everton is that they still seem too light up front, and if you don’t score goals you have no chance to win games. It might be early in the season but this already feels like a big game for a club who have struggled terribly lately, a win would really feel like six points.
Team News:
Aston Villa: Emiliano Buendia will miss the next six months at least with a knee injury in what is a huge blow for the club. Another big blow is Tyrone Mings who also has a knee injury and is expected to be out for a lengthy period. Leander Dendoncker has a muscle injury and remains a doubt for this game. Ihon Duran is out for at least two weeks with a muscle injury. Jacob Ramsey won’t return for a month due to a foot injury. Bertrand Traore is 50/50 due to a muscle injury and Alex Moreno looks set to miss the next three weeks due to a hamstring injury.
Everton: Dominic Calvert-Lewin was pulled before the first game of the season due to fitness issues and will be assessed ahead of this game. Dele Alli is out with a hip injury. Seamus Coleman (knee) and Dwight McNeil (ankle) remain out for lengthy periods.
Aston Villa vs Everton Head to Head:
Last season Aston Villa won this fixture 2-1.
Aston Villa have won the last 4 meetings in a row and are unbeaten against Everton in 8 games. Everton have not beaten Villa since 2016.
4 from the last 5 games has seen just one team to score.
Aston Villa vs Everton Prediction:
Aston Villa have certainly had the better over Everton almost for a decade now and the Toffees have continued to struggle against them. Add that to the fact that this is hardly a vintage Everton side and the weekend’s fixture does not look good for Sean Dyche’s side. Dominic Calvert-Lewin needs to play because he is the most likely to get goals for the club and if he does he can be a genuine threat up front. Villa will be strong and this will be a difficult game for Everton but Villa’s injury list is becoming a big concern and there are a few key players out now. This could work in Everton’s favour and it will be interesting to see how Villa recover from last weekend’s drubbing.
Everton has a chance here to sneak a win but we think there needs to be some caution and the best choice may be to back the away side on the handicap. We don’t expect to see many goals in this fixture either.
Aston Villa vs Everton Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (+1.0 Everton) at 1.63
Under 2.5 goals at 1.80
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