Date: Saturday, February 1 Venue: Goodison Park Kick-Off: 15:00 Can Everton bounce back from their 4-0 defeat to Merseyside rivals Liverpool when they take on Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday?
Team News
Everton will be without Romelu Lukaku, though the ankle injury the striker suffered against Liverpool on Tuesday is not as bad as first feared. Fellow forward Lacina Traore remains out with a hamstring injury so Steven Naismith is likely to start up front. Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahore is still doubtful after sustaining a foot injury against Liverpool two weeks ago. Loan signing Grant Holt is in contention to make his first start for the club.
Key Stats
This is the most-played fixture in the English top flight. Both sides have 72 wins from the previous 197 league meetings. Everton are unbeaten in the last three encounters, winning twice. Prior to that they had failed to record a victory in 12 league games against Villa. The 4-0 defeat at Liverpool was Everton's heaviest loss in the Premier League since Arsenal won 6-1 at Goodison Park on 15 August 2009. Paul Lambert's side have lost just three of their 11 away league games this season.
Likely Line-Ups
Everton Howard, Stones, Alcaraz, Jagielka, Baines, Mirallas, Barry, McCarthy, Pienaar, Barkley, Naismith Aston Villa Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Bertrand, El Ahmadi, Delph, Westwood, Weimann, Bacuna, Benteke
Match Preview
Everton will be hoping to pick themselves up and dust themselves down when Aston Villa visit Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon. The Toffees were given a thorough going-over by Merseyside rivals Liverpool mid-week, battered 4-0 by their neighbours in red. Everton's heaviest loss in the Premier League since Arsenal won 6-1 at Goodison Park on 15 August 2009, and surely things can only get better from this point on. Ah, but it gets worse, because during that loss, key man Romelu Lukaku picked up an ankle injury, although thankfully it doesnt appear as serious as first feared. It does however mean we wont get the battle of the Belgians Lukaku vs Christian Benteke, especially as the latter is enjoying a good run of form at present. That would have been an interesting ingredient to this match though its still sure to be lively with the home side looking to breathe life back into their top four challenge. As for Villa, they will need the aforementioned Benteke to keep up his run of form here, especially as Agbonlahor is set to miss out. Both sides are missing key personnel and I can see this ending as a draw as a result. Prediction: 1-1
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
