Aston Villa v Everton | Match Preview, Odds To BetOn and Prediction
Aston Villa welcome Everton to Villa Park on Sunday afternoon and will be desperate for a win after losing their opening game of the Premier League season. Unai Emery’s men are coming off the back of a successful campaign in 2022/23 but were well-beaten at St James’ Park and will be without key players when Everton comes to town.
As for the visitors, Everton are also seeking to avenge their opening-day defeat, but they will be in better spirits than Villa after a much more positive performance against Fulham. They narrowly lost by a single goal but were certainly the better team and were guilty of missing clear-cut opportunities. Villa, however, were thrashed 5-1 and could have conceded more.
Emery’s side finished 7th in the top-flight last season, boasting a 63% win ratio on home soil, so they’ll be favourites to see past Everton who have been fighting for survival in the previous two campaigns. Since the Midlands outfit was promoted from the Championship in 2019, they haven’t lost to Everton in the Premier League.
Villa boasts four wins in their last four head-to-heads with Everton and hasn’t been beaten by the Toffees since 2016. As a result, Emery’s men are 3/4 with BetWay To Win. The two sides used to be inseparable in the last decade, playing out seven draws in nine matches between 2009 and 2013. Villa and Everton are 3/1 with Bet UK To Draw, but the bookmakers believe there will be a winner.
Everton finished 17th in the league last season, avoiding relegation by only two points. They managed only two wins from 19 away games in 2022/23, averaging less than one goal scored per match while conceding nearly twice as many, so it’s no surprise that they’re underdogs on Sunday. Sean Dyche’s arrival did turn their fortunes around for the better, but the squad still has issues.
Everton don’t have a prolific goalscorer to win them games. Dwight McNeil was their top goalscorer with seven goals in 36 league games, but no other player managed more than five. Fast-forward to the new season and Neal Maupay missed countless opportunities in the Fulham defeat, so Dyche might turn to new-boy Chermiti for goals if Dominic Calvert-Lewin isn’t fully fit. Calvert-Lewin is 9/1 with SkyBet to be First Goalscorer and 7/2 with SkyBet to Score Anytime while Chermiti is 10/1 with Paddy Power to be First Goalscorer and 15/4 with William Hill to Score Anytime.
Villa has been heavily reliant on Ollie Watkins after his 15 league goals last season, so he’s the player they’ll expect to turn the game in their favour. The 27-year-old is 4/1 with Boyle Sports as First Goalscorer and 13/8 with William Hill to Score Anytime. New-boy Moussa Diaby, who impressed in pre-season for Villa, is 6/1 with Bet 365 to be First Goalscorer and 12/5 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime.
The last eight meetings have seen three or fewer goals, so Total Goals Under 3.5 is 4/11 with Unibet. Everton are 22/5 with Bet UK To Win against Villa, but Sunday’s clash might go the way of the hosts.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Everton
