Everton v Aston Villa preview: Toffees aim to stick with improved form
Having overseen two wins from his first three matches in charge (L1), there’s a growing belief that the Toffees can get out of their sticky situation under the stewardship of new boss Sean Dyche who brings with him a personal H2H record against Aston Villa of just one defeat in six meetings (W2, D3, L1).
In the build-up to last weekend’s success, Dyche declared home games will be very “important” because of the atmosphere Goodison Park creates.
A record of two wins ‘to nil’ would suggest the home crowd have been playing their part since his arrival, and now Everton could seal a third straight home league win without reply in the same campaign for the first time since May 2019.
Mid-table Aston Villa look like an ideal opponent to seal that feat as they’ll arrive on Merseyside having lost each of their previous three PL matches, conceding 3+ goals in each.
A fourth straight league defeat, in the same manner, would be a first since 1958, although it should be noted that two of those losses came against title chasers Manchester City and Arsenal.
A trip to Goodison does offer Villa hope they can avoid that fate as they do hold a dominant recent record against their hosts, remaining unbeaten in each of their seven H2Hs with Everton since earning promotion in 2019 (W5, D2) including winning the last three meetings.
The Villans did also accumulate three straight PL away wins prior to their 3-1 set-back at the Etihad.
Key battle: Everton defender James Tarkowski has registered five shots in his three matches under Dyche, as many as he’d managed in the eight competitive matches before the manager’s arrival. He’ll be out to try and stop Villa’s Ollie Watkins who could become the club’s first player to score in five consecutive PL matches.
Hot stat: Everton against Aston Villa is the most played fixture in English Football League history, with this the 210th meeting (76 wins for Everton, 78 wins for Villa, 55 draws).
