English Premier League - Match Preview: Aston Villa versus Everton
Aston Villa will be striving to put their past disappointments behind them from the Europa League as they play Everton in their third league match of the season at Villa Park. Villa lost their last league fixture to Newcastle United and are in dire straits after losing their Europa League qualifier against Rapid Vienna in midweek as well.
Villa won their first league match of the season against West Ham by three goals to nil but after that it has been downhill for the Birmingham club, who are still without a permanent first team manager. Kevin MacDonald has been guiding the team so far, he was previously Villa’s reserve team manager and the leap to first team management has been too much for him up till now.
Aston Villa’s six nil defeat Newcastle United signalled a new low for them as after Martin O’Neill’s departure from the club, their once famed defensive line has turned to absolute shambles lately. On the other hand, Everton are not lighting the league on fire through their performances as well. The Merseyside blues have been dominating games but have found it hard to find the penetrating passes that lead to goals. Their last meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers resulted in a draw and their first league match which was against Blackburn resulted in a one nil defeat for the men in blue.
A worrying factor for Villa is their midfield and defence. In their midweek match, Aston Villa took the lead but then failed to keep control of the match as Rapid Vienna came back in fantastic fashion to inflict a painful defeat on the Villains. Another point to be noted is that Villa have missed two penalties in their last two competitive games, their first penalty against Newcastle United was taken by Carew, who blasted the ball high and wide. Against Rapid Vienna, Stilian Petrov took the penalty but his weak shot was saved by the Austrian club’s goal keeper.
If Villa do get another chance to score from the spot in Sunday’s match against Everton, it will be interesting to see who will step up to the mark for them. A big problem plaguing Villa is regarding their manager’s post. After the loss against Vienna, club captain Petrov told the media that players are getting affected by the fact that there is no permanent manager at the club, something that Randy Lerner, Villa’s owner will have to address sooner rather than later.
However, Villa can take confidence from the fact that they are surprisingly unbeaten in their last eight league matches against Everton but their last three matches with the Toffees have ended in scored draws. Before the season started, Everton were aiming for a Europa League finish but those plans have been thrown into jeopardy as they have only managed to gather one point from their opening two games of the season.
Since 1987, Everton have only won a single match at Villa Park, where the Sunday’s meeting between the two English sides is scheduled to take place. Everton will be looking to their star attacking midfielder Tim Cahill, who has scored four times in his last four matches against Aston Villa. Sunday’s match will be the 191st time both the teams have met at in the top tier of English football.
Aston Villa do have some injury troubles going in the match as their striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is struggling against time to declare his fitness for the match. Gabriel got injured in Villa’s midweek Europa league qualification play-off. John Carew is also a doubt for the Villains as he is suffering with an on-going knee problem. Richard Dunne is sure to miss the match for the Birmingham club as he is on a lengthy lay-off due to his back issues.
For Everton, there are apparently no squad troubles as their club captain Philip Neville is fit for selection while Anichebe is also set to make a first team comeback after recovering from a knee injury. The Toffees do have an injury in the shape of Yakubu, who is a transfer target for other clubs and is currently out with a calf injury. Everton are slight favourites to edge this match due to the bad run of form that Villa are currently facing but it is quite possible that a draw will be the outcome considering the form that both the teams are carrying into this match.
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