Aston Villa fans will be glad that Premier League football will return this weekend, with Everton visiting Villa Park.
Unai Emery‘s side have two wins from their opening three matches – losing to Arsenal in their only home game – but the same can’t be said for their opponents.
Everton are sitting bottom of the Premier League table and, before the international break, they were beaten 3-2 by Bournemouth at Goodison Park, despite leading 2-0 after 87 minutes.
On paper, you would expect an easy win for Aston Villa here, but the Midlands side haven’t beaten the struggling Merseyside club in their last two matches – 0-0 at Goodison and 2-1 in the EFL Cup at Villa Park.
It also needs to be noted that Villa are in Champions League action next week, so you wonder how much that will be on Emery’s mind, in terms of rotation.
Ollie Watkins dropped out of England duty and fans wait on his current status, whilst Ezri Konsa provided an injury scare when he started the Three Lions’ 2-0 win over Finland in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday night.
Either way, Ian Wright thinks this is going to be a comfortable ‘4-0’ win for Villa – they won by the same scoreline in the Premier League last season.
But Roy Keane, whilst also backing the home side to win, was left shocked by that prediction, with Gary Neville reminding the Manchester United legend what he said about this fixture a couple of weeks ago, as he told Stick to Football.
Aston Villa v Everton prediction
“You said two weeks ago Roy (Keane) that you put all your money on Villa to beat Everton,” revealed Neville. “That was your prediction.”
Keane responded: “Not as much as he has got over there.” Ian Wright then shouted ‘4-0 (to Villa)’, with Keane amazed and responding ‘four?!’.
Wright added: “When was the last time they scored at Villa Park?” Keane then responded: “3-0 or 3-1? 3-1. We will give Everton a goal. I always give somebody a goal. They have a goal in them. A set-piece.”
Aston Villa in the Champions League
You can’t blame the fans, the players or the manager if they have one eye on the game against Young Boys in the Champions League, starting next Tuesday night.
Bayern Munich at home is also around the corner, so this is the time for Emery to use his squad.
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Jhon Duran has been pushing for a start at Villa and he will now get his wish in these coming weeks, with seven games to be played from now until the next international break.
In another boost for the team, Boubacar Kamara also returned to training after he suffered a season-ending injury in February.
