Aston Villa vs Everton

Since building up 15 successive triumphs at Villa Park between March and December 2023, the Birmingham club has actually won just 4 of the forthcoming 12 league games at their second-city headquarter – but the current form against Everton seen that they could be the break of that trend on Saturday.

Ever since their promotion to the top flight in the 2019/2020 campaign, Villa has never lost to the Merseyside outfit, not to mention that the team has won seven, drawn three and lost none of their matches against them; additionally, they have kept seven clean sheets and conceded only three goals.

However, you will be surprised to know that Everton has only won one match in their five previous five Premier League encounters at Villa Park and to make it worse, they have only scored once in the process – an own goal by Lucas Digne in August 2022 against his former employers.

The last Toffees player to record a league goal against the current week’s hosts was Romelu Lukaku more eight years ago and form is also against the Sean Dyche’s side.

The only other team that has lost all the three matches in the English top flight this season and currently occupying the last position in the table are Everton after they squandered a four-goal lead to draw in their most recent match before the break for international games.

Still, they managed to transform a two-nil lead after 86 minutes into rather painful and shocking 3-2 home loss to Bournemouth which added more disappointment to the already disgruntled Goodison Park gang.

This team from the last season has gone four Premier League matches without a win; it’s been eighteen years since the team suffered such a five-match sequence at the start of a season, and will be eager to get the season going quickly.

The offshore John Textor takeover saga continues to boil while the tag ‘crisis club’ re-emerges, hence Dyche is keen to take his side to safer grounds this weekend.

Aston Villa and Everton, who have had rather different Premier League seasons, will meet at Villa Park on Saturday night.

Villa has won two of its first three games, but the Toffees are still waiting for a new owner and their first point of the 2024–25 season after a heartbreaking loss in the closing moments of their last game.

Aston Villa finished this month's international break on a positive note, having taken six of a possible nine Premier League points after a 2-0 home loss to Arsenal and a victory against West Ham United on opening day.

Back-to-back away victories for Villa were secured at King Power Stadium as they defeated Leicester City 2-1. Goals from Amadou Onana and super-sub Jhon Duran gave Villa their second goal of the season.

Duran has scored seven goals in the Premier League so far, six of which have come from substitute appearances. The highly regarded striker is performing admirably as Ollie Watkins' primary backup, despite having only started three games since moving to England.

 Such squad depth is necessary for the challenges that lie ahead for head coach Unai Emery's team, which will battle on four fronts this season: the league, two domestic cups, and an anticipated trip in the revamped Champions League.

After a busy period of international play, some squad rotation cannot be ruled out. It is unclear how Unai Emery would choose the starting lineup for Aston Villa's Champions League debut on Tuesday.

Jhon Duran is prepared to make a rare start up front if Ollie Watkins, who was sidelined for England duty due to an injury, is rested. The Colombian international has a strike rate of 96 minutes per goal in the Premier League.

While Armando Broja, another loanee, won't be available for a few weeks, Everton may welcome loanee Orel Mangala into their lineup this weekend.