Aston Villa look to get their season back on track this weekend as they host Everton in the Premier League in their maiden home fixture of the 23/24 campaign. Here’s all you need to know heading into the contest at Villa Park…
Words by: Liam Davies
THE BUILD UP
Following the 5-1 defeat against Newcastle last Saturday, Unai Emery and his side look to claim their first few points of the season this weekend. The Villans welcome Sean Dyche’s Everton to B6 on Sunday afternoon ahead of their UEFA Europa Conference League first leg tie against Hibernian at Easter Road on Wednesday.
On Tyneside, Villa suffered a disappointing start to the new campaign and were blown away by a vibrant and energetic Newcastle United. Eddie Howe’s team took just six minutes to open the scoring, with summer signing Sandro Tonali firing home Anthony Gordon’s cross.
Moussa Diaby equalised for the away side five minutes later, but it was the Magpies who would storm away with the contest and a brace from Alexander Isak, plus strikes from Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes, ensured the three points stayed up north.
Post-match, head coach Unai Emery revealed his frustration following the defeat and his willingness to bounce back at Villa Park. Speaking to VillaTV, he said: “I’m disappointed. To lose 5-1 is not good for us and we played not deserving to lose 5-1, but a lot of things happened in 90 minutes.
“It’s three points and we’re going to think about our reaction over the next week. We’re going to analyse the match and prepare the next match at home.”
Matching the thoughts of his boss, captain John McGinn stated his desire to move on quickly from the set-back. He said: “We’ve had a couple of bumps and bruises, this will hurt a little bit more because of the scoreline. Newcastle do this to a lot of teams here.
“We need to make sure this is a blip – it’s so important we do that.”
This weekend’s opposition, Everton, also began the new season with a defeat, losing 1-0 at home to Marco Silva’s Fulham. Despite generating an xG (expected goals) of 3.07, the Toffees failed to find the back of the net and it was away substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s 73rd minute back-post strike that decided the fixture on Merseyside.
Villa came out on top on both occasions against Everton last season, winning 2-1 at Villa Park in August, thanks to Danny Ings and Emi Buendía’s strikes, and 2-0 away in February courtesy of an Ollie Watkins penalty and Buendía’s 81st minute settler. Can the Villans bounce back and taste success for the first time this term or will it be the Toffees who take all three points on Sunday?
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
During the first-half of the heavy defeat against Newcastle United last weekend, Aston Villa lost defender Tyrone Mings to injury. The number five stayed down following a foot race with Alexander Isak and was visually in a lot of pain, holding his knee. After receiving treatment, the 30-year-old defender was then stretchered off to the applause of all those inside St James’ Park.
On Monday, the club issued a statement confirming that, after a series of scans and tests, Mings had suffered significant knee damage and will require surgery ahead of a lengthy rehabilitation process.
This news followed the loss of creative midfielder Emi Buendía who is also sidelined with a long-term knee injury; the number ten sustained ligament damage in training last Wednesday. Like Mings, the Argentine required surgery and will miss a large part of the 23/24 campaign as a result.
On the missing duo, Emery said: “We have two long-term injuries with Emi Buendía and Tyrone Mings. They had surgery this week and now is the moment to be with their families, and start slowly working a little bit.
“But, of course, it’s a long time to come back with us.”
In the pre-Everton press conference earlier today, Unai Emery revealed that there are no fresh injury concerns but both Leander Dendoncker and Tim Iroegbunam remain unavailable. PFA Young Player of the Season nominee Jacob Ramsey is ‘still weeks away’ from a return, but left-back Àlex Moreno ‘is close to re-joining the group’. The pair are eyeing a return to action later this month/next month.
The Basque boss did confirm the return of Colombian forward Jhon Durán and winger Bertrand Traoré, however. The duo missed the entirety of pre-season through injury, but have both trained with the first team at Bodymoor Heath this week. Despite that, the two are not yet fit and are expected to miss the match-day squad this weekend.
EVERTON
Sean Dyche has confirmed that striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is in contention for this weekend’s game against Aston Villa after playing 90 minutes in a behind-closed-doors fixture against Manchester United in mid-week. The number nine missed the season opener against Fulham with fitness and previous injury concerns, but is expected to feature this weekend and could lead the line at Villa Park on Sunday.
Dyche also provided an update on the status of full-back Vitalli Mykolenko, forward Arnaut Danjuma and midfielder André Gomes who all started on the bench last week. On Mykolenko and Danjuma’s fitness, he said: “They still have a bit to do, but a lot of them got 90 minutes in the week, which was pleasing.
“André (Gomes) has got tightness in his calf, so we have just got to be careful with that, so just trying to get the base fitness right really for a few of them, but they are getting loser to what you what call true fitness.”
Winger Dwight McNeil missed the opening fixture with an ankle injury. On the 23-year-old, Dyche said: “He’s going alright, I spoke to him today. He’s just on the light stuff now, not quite on the grass, but getting back in the running and really building a true strength to his ankle.”
Elsewhere, Chermiti (fitness), Seamus Coleman (knee) and Dele Alli (hamstring) are all unavailable.
Can I ask a quick favour? We love producing content for you on our website, and we want to share it with as many Villa fans as possible. Consider mentioning our website next time you’re talking Villa with your friends, or better still, It’s free to subscribe to our profit-free site; you’ll receive instant email notifications of all released articles. Plus, as with the website, no adverts or spam mail will be delivered to your mailbox; only our content. Thanks.
A BIT ON EVERTON
Last season, Everton finished 17th in the Premier League, narrowly escaping relegation to the EFL Championship by just two points. Sean Dyche took over at Goodison Park in January, replacing Frank Lampard at the helm and steadied the ship early on with superb results against league leaders (at the time) Arsenal and relegation rivals Leeds United.
Surviving the drop was seen as a success for Dyche and Everton, given the team’s poor form under the previous manager, but the Toffees will look to avoid a relegation battle this season and have their sights set on a more comfortable mid/top table finish.
This summer, the former Burnley manager has welcomed four new players to the club, including former Aston Villa full-back Ashley Young; the 38-year-old made the switch to Merseyside following the expiration of his contract in the West-Midlands. Joining Young is former Leeds winger Jack Harrison (on loan with an option to buy), former Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma and young Sporting CP attacker Youssef Chermiti.
Ahead of the trip to Villa Park on Sunday, Dyche spoke to the media, discussing possible transfers and previewing the upcoming fixture, earlier today at Finch Farm. The Toffees have recently been linked with a move for Southampton forward Che Adams to bolster their attacking options. On this possible signing, boss Dyche said: “There are lots of conversations ongoing, (but) no news at this stage.”
The Everton boss was also asked about last week’s showing against Fulham. He said: “There were a lot of good aspects to the performance, it’s just about reaffirming that side of the game. We know we created a lot, we know we created good quality chances, which is always key for me.
“A lot of the performance was right, so its more about the building blocks from that performance and taking it into the next game.”
When questioned on this weekend’s opposition, the 52-year-old said: “They lost in some style (last week) but are a good outfit, we know that from last season.
“They’ll be looking to bounce back from that result with a home game. It’s important for us to remind ourselves at what we did (last week) and take it into the Villa game, with a positive attitude.”
Sorry for interrupting the flow of the post; can you help support us? Our non-profit and ad-free website, UTVPODCAST | The Website, is now accepting small donations to help support its continuous evolution and operating costs. We love creating this content for you and want it to be as successful as possible. If you can help; treat us to a coffee. Thank you.
MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Let’s take a look at my predicted line-up for this upcoming fixture…
Do you agree? Who makes your side? Share yours now and let’s discuss?
MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: LIAM DAVIES
“Thank you for reading: any likes, retweets, or shares on the social media post where you found this article would be highly appreciated“.
“Are you on Twitter? Drop me a follow; all released articles will be posted to my feed”.
Click the icon below…
Thumbnail Media Credit: www.avfc.co.uk
HUGE SAVINGS ON ASTON VILLA MERCHANDISE @ KITBAG
UTVPODCAST | The Website is pleased to partner with Official AVFC Store, Fanatics, and Kitbag. Throughout the season, we will bring you exclusive offers and discount codes.
