Aston Villa eager to end three-game winless run in trip to Everton.
Everton vs Aston Villa kicks off at 15:00 [GMT+1] on Saturday, September 13, at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Following successive victories [LWW], the Toffees head back into the thick of the action with the weekend’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa while in joint-5th place with newcomers Sunderland. Everton have struggled woefully in this fixture since Villa’s return to the Premier League in 2019/20. The Toffees are winless in their last 12 league meetings with the Midlands side (D3 L9), their last victory coming as far back as March 2016 in a 3-1 success at Villa Park. That poor record has weighed heavily in recent years, with David Moyes’ side now determined to finally end the drought in front of their home supporters. But for Everton, the frustration is clear: they have failed to score in four successive home league games against Villa, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin the last Toffees player to find the net in this fixture, though at Goodison Park. The only time Everton have gone five consecutive home league games without scoring against an opponent was against Liverpool in the 1970s, a six-match run between 1973 and 1978. A 4—2—3—1 formation with Beto in attack was seen in the 3-2 win over Wolves, just before the international break and expected again here.
Unai Emery’s Villa are sitting in an unfamiliar 19th place, having remained winless in three PL games, with back-to-back defeats [DLL]. Surely, breaking the three-game winless run will be the ultimate objective at the weekend when they make a debut visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium. While they have been dominant in their recent visits to Goodison Park, winning four of their last five away Premier League matches against Everton (D1), a visit to the newly built stadium could bring an unexpected change in fortunes. Everton remain unbeaten at their new home, something Unai Emery’s side would be keen to spoil as they go in pursuit of their maiden victory of the season. Defensively, Villa have been particularly resolute, keeping a clean sheet in each of their last four trips to Everton. It stands as their longest ever run of consecutive away league clean sheets against a single opponent. However, Aston Villa have failed to score in their first three league games of a season. Should they fail to find the back of the net on Saturday, they will become the fifth side to do so and the first since Crystal Palace in 2017-18 (7). A 4—2—3—1 formation was seen in the 3-0 loss to Palace last time out and is expected again. Ollie Watkins will lead the attack.