Everton FC vs Aston Villa FC, Premier League 2020-2021, Today Match Prediction

Everton FC vs Aston Villa FC Match Prediction & Analysis

Everton finally returned to winning ways in their last fixture by beating Arsenal after going five games without victory.

It’s a spell which has all but ended their chances of finishing in a Champions League position at the end of the season, with 4th place Chelsea now six points ahead, and with West Ham, Spurs and Liverpool all further ahead in that particular race.

It has been a difficult period where the Toffees have struggled to score goals, but have started leaking them at the other end too in what has been a stark contrast to their form at the start of the season.

As for Aston Villa, they say that one man does not make a team, but in the case of Jack Grealish, his absence through injury has been a massive loss to them. He has been out since February, and they have only won twice in that time.

This is the most-played fixture in English top division history, with this being the 205th meeting of the two clubs.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Everton FC Preview

Form Guide (all comps): LDDDW

Reasons to be cheerful:

     Unbeaten in last four league games

     Haven’t lost to Villa at home in nine meetings

Reasons to be fearful:

     Only won one of their last nine home league games

     Scoring goals has been a problem recently 

Life for Everton supporters hasn’t been quite as rosy in the second half of the season as it was at the beginning of the campaign, when the club propelled themselves to the top of the league, Calvert-Lewin was in fabulous form and new signing James Rodriguez was shaping up to the be Player of the Season.

Despite going unbeaten in four games, Everton have struggled to play with the same flowing football of before, only scoring two or more goals just once in their last nine games.

Defensively they haven’t been great either, though Michael Keane will return to the side here after recovering from injury.

Should they pull together a strong run in the remaining five fixtures, they could pull a top six finish out of the bag, but at the moment it seems unlikely.

Star Man – Gylfi Sigurdsson

With forwards Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin struggling for goals, Sigurdsson has been popping up with some important contributions, such as two against Spurs recently.

Aston Villa FC Preview

Form Guide (all comps): LWLLD

Reasons to be cheerful:

     Have recorded seven away wins this season

     Could set a club record of nine away clean sheets in a season

Reasons to be fearful:

     With nine defeats in 2021, only Sheffield United and Southampton have lost more

     Jack Grealish unfortunately remains injured

Unfortunately for Villa, it says everything about their recent form that only Sheffield United and Southampton have performed worse so far in 2021.

The loss of their captain and best player Jack Grealish has had a huge impact, though manager Dean Smith will be looking at the rest of his players wondering where their form of earlier in the season has disappeared to.

Away from home, Villa have be great this season. They can achieve nine clean sheets on their travels this weekend, which would be a club record, showing that they have been solid wherever they’ve played.

With Everton also not in the best goalscoring form right now, a solid defence could well be Villa’s best chance of claiming something from this one.

Star Man – Ollie Watkins

Villa’s top scorer netted against Liverpool recently and will be hoping to continue that goal threat here.

EVERTON FC vs ASTON VILLA FC
Winning Prediction

     Should be a tough midfield battle

     Chances harder to come by at first

     Everton’s quality makes them slight favourites

When examining the probable line-ups of these two sides, you see that they have strong midfields with plenty of power and drive.

This could make for a tight encounter, with neither side willing to give an inch.

Everton’s superior quality up front should make the difference, but they’ll need to shake off the cobwebs of recent weeks.

Everton to win 2-1

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