Aston Villa vs Everton preview, team news, tickets & prediction

Everton travel to the West Midlands to take on high-flying Aston Villa on Matchday 4 of the 2024/25 Premier League season.

Aston Villa will be counting on their strong home form when Everton visits on the 14th of September 2024 with three points on offer.

The last encounter between both sides ended goalless, just their third draw in the last ten games with Villa winning the rest. Indeed, Unai Emery’s men thumped their counterparts 4-0 in the corresponding fixture last season and they will be looking forward to more of the same.

Aston Villa Assessment

Aston Villa have had a fantastic time during Emery’s spell so far as he led them to seventh place and qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League in his first season. His first full campaign in 2023/24 saw Villa reach the Conference League semi-finals, and a fourth-place finish in the league secured a spot in the UEFA Champions League.

This means Villa will be playing in Europe’s elite club competition for the first time since 1982/83. The draw has been made, in the new format, and sees them face Bayern Munich (H), RB Leipzig (A), Juventus (H), Club Brugge (A), Celtic H), Young Boys (A), Bologna (H), and Monaco (A).

Nevertheless, the last campaign was not without its difficult moments. A 5–1 thrashing at Newcastle United in the opening game of the season was a shocking start, but they soon picked momentum and won all their first eight games at home.

Notably, wins over Arsenal and Manchester City in back-to-back games at Villa Park grabbed the attention of the entire country as Emery was named Premier League Manager of the Month for December 2023.

Their run to the last four of the Conference League was Villa’s first European semi-final since 1982 and they will be eager to clinch more records this term.

Aston Villa Form

The Villains sit 6th at the time of writing, although Spurs, Newcastle, Chelsea and Man Utd could force them down at most 3 places today.

They started their league campaign with a creditable 2-1 away to West Ham, before losing 2-0 to Arsenal in their first home fixture. Yesterday, the beat Leicester 2-1 away, to have 6 points from 9, something they would have took pre-season.

What is perhaps surprising, is the scorers of the 4 goals both have 2 in Jhon Duran and Amadou Onana. The later a summer signing from Everton for a reported £50 million, and the defensive midfielder only scored two in the premier league last season.

That also means England striker Ollie Watkins has been firing blanks which might concern Emery. Watkins did get an assist yesterday, his first goal involvement in 185 minutes of football. But last seasons Premier League standard was set at 19 goals and 18 assists in 3222, one every 87 minutes.

Everton Assessment

How welcome an international break is depends on form. There is no doubt bottom of the table Everton will be please, giving an opportunity to lick their wounds and regroup. Defensive training is also in order, as the Toffees have conceded 10 goals so far, the most in the Premier League.

This is unlike Sean Dyche’s team who normally build success on their defence. This in part is down to the lack of summer signings, with only Onana’s direct replacement Tim Iroegbunam into the team. Ironically, he signed from Aston Villa for a reported £9 million.

This lack of spending is likely down to PSR. Last term, the Toffees were charged with two separate breaches of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules after making losses of £124.5 million in the three years up to 2021/22, with the limit being £105 million. Their initial 10-point deduction, later reduced to six, was the biggest in Premier League history.

Despite the huge sporting disadvantage they found themselves in and the 14-game winless streak over the winter, they ultimately gathered 40 points which were enough to secure 15th position and thus Premier League survival.

Everton Form

The Merseysiders should boast the physical and mental toughness that is characteristic of Dyche’s teams, but defensive frailties mean they lost their first home game 3-0 to resurgent Brighton, before getting equalling pummelled 4-0 away to Spurs.

They then had a confidence building 3-0 win over League Two Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup. Including a goal scoring debut for summer signing Iliman Ndiaye.

And it seemed to have worked against Bournemouth at home yesterday. Dominic Calvert-Lewin finally remembered he was a Premier League striker and provided a second half assist for Michael Keane and then scored. All was rosy until the 87th minute, when they seemed to tire and switch off as Semenyo kick started a remarkable 3-2 turnaround and the latest comeback from 2-0 down in Premier League history.

Perhaps worst of all was the lack of passionate reaction of the Everton players on any of the goals conceded, a few heads dropped but most seemed to accept it as inevitable.

It’s clear Dyche has a job to turn around the relegation form, and won’t be relishing the trip to Villa Park.

Match tickets

This Premier League game takes place on Saturday, 14 September 2024 with kick-off scheduled for 5:30 PM UK time. Match tickets are available for sale on each club’s website with season ticket holders and club members getting priority consideration.

The ever-vibrant Villa Park is the setting for this tantalizing encounter and over 42,000 seats should be sold out given the current mood around Aston Villa. They are in the Champions League with some of the most exciting players in the English top-flight so fans will not want to miss this.

Villa’s solid record against Everton is also a reason to witness another great day out of Premier League football. And to beat the late rush for tickets, we urge supporters to find their Aston Villa vs Everton tickets on a ticket resale site.

Team news

Villa have been one of the busiest clubs in the transfer market, with Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen, Samuel Iling-Junior, Lewis Dobbin, Enzo Barrenechea and Ross Barkley all arriving, while a buyback clause was triggered to bring back Jaden Philogene from Hull City. The club spent about £140million this summer.

On the other end, Douglas Luiz, Omari Kellyman, Philippe Coutinho, Morgan Sanson, Moussa Diaby and Tim Iroegbunam have left Villa Park.

Opponents Everton struggled to create or score goals consistently last season and they have prioritized strengthening the forward areas of the pitch with Iliman Ndiaye joining from Marseille and signing Jesper Lindstrom from Napoli.

The one positive was Manchester United were intent on taking young defender Jarrad Branthwaite from Goodison Park this summer but two offers were quickly rejected as Everton are prepared to offer him a new contract. The star defender though has been injured and not played any minutes, and Dyche will be hoping he will be back to full fitness over the international break.

Line-ups

The Villa boss has an array of brand-new signings to select from and they certainly have more than enough firepower to hurt the Evertonians.

Amadou Onana faces his former team only two months after leaving the blue side of Merseyside and he will be looking to impress in front of his new fans and continue his fine run of goal-scoring form.

Aston Villa: Martinez; Konsa, Bogarde, Torres, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans, Onana; Bailey, Watkins, Rogers

Everton need to be resilient on this daunting away trip and Dyche is sure to be fielding his strongest team that is fit.

Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Young; Iroegbunam, Gueye, Harrison, McNeil; Ndiaye, Calvert-Lewin

Prediction

The hosts are heavy favourites and they will be keen to impose themselves on Everton who will naturally relinquish ball possession. This should see the match settle into a classic game of attack versus defence but the visitors will be wary of letting Aston Villa get too comfortable.

Villa’s dynamism and movement will be too much for Everton, all three points should go to the Lions with Watkins re-discovering his goal scoring form.

Aston Villa 3-0 Everton