Everton-Aston Villa is a match valid for the twenty-fifth day of the Premier League and is played on Saturday at 16:00: TV, formations, predictions.
Since a few weeks on the Everton bench sits Sean Dyche, the creator of the Burnley miracle. The former Clarets coach, who for nearly a decade kept the current Championship leaders in the Premier League before last year’s bitter relegation, has been enlisted specifically to bring the Toffees to safety.
With Frank Lampard at the helm things had got very bad and so an iron sergeant, used to navigating bad waters, was needed. The first effects of the Dyche cure, which mainly targeted the defence, are there for all to see. The new coach made his debut with an unpredictable success over the leading Arsenal, bent 1-0 at Goodison Park. He could do little in the derby with Liverpool (2-0) but a few days later he ensured that Everton won the very important direct clash with Leeds, in what was the second home success in a row, keeping the goal unbeaten. The Toffees took to the pitch with a different attitude and conceded fewer goals, but the relegation zone was always just a stone’s throw away. The fight for safety has never been as uncertain as it is this year, and not even bottom-of-the-table Southampton look doomed.
The gap between third-last-placed West Ham and Everton is just one point. Maupay and his team-mates will be looking to make the home factor count again against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who are coming off a home defeat to Arsenal. In Birmingham last Saturday it ended 4-2 to the Gunners despite the hosts having twice taken the lead against the first in class. The Villans have been on a three-day losing streak (Leicester, Manchester City and Arsenal) and another misstep would mean saying goodbye to any remaining chances of retaking Europe.
Buendia
The Prediction
With a defender like Dyche Everton play different football, tending mainly to destroy the opposition’s. We do not expect a pyrotechnic game at Goodison Park, with the hosts likely to avoid defeat.
The Everton-Aston Villa line-up probables
- EVERTON (4-5-1): Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Coady, Mykolenko; McNeil, Onana, Gueye, Doucouré, Iwobi; Maupay.
- ASTON VILLA (4-3-3): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; Kamara, Douglas Luiz, McGinn; Buendia, Watkins, Coutinho.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
