Aston Villa face a struggling Everton side at Goodison Park next up in the Premier League, on the back of their hard-fought comeback draw against Manchester United last week.
Steven Gerrard’s men came back from two goals down, as star signing Philippe Coutinho and the vastly talented Jacob Ramsey inspired a second-half resurgence, that cancelled out Bruno Fernandes’ brace.
The game saw a number of claret and blue players put in impressive performances, including that of Emiliano Buendia, who is thought to be playing his best football since his arrival in the summer.
The new signings, Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne both proved their worth, as well as Gerrard’s transferal nous, with the pair putting in fine displays on their debuts. Coutinho of course made the game-changing impact from the bench, and Digne looked effective down the left, both defensively and going forward.
The general feel around Aston Villa Football Club at the moment is positive, and has been since Gerrard’s arrival. Fans are delighted (and some surprised) at some of the football being played under the new Manager, but also the pull he brings with him – particularly the ability to attract quality players from big clubs.
This week’s opponents, Everton, are in a far more different position to Aston Villa, in regards to the atmosphere and morale around the club. The Toffee’s chairman, Farhad Moshiri, has recently sacked the prestigious Rafa Benitez, after poor recent form and general decision-making over the course of the season. Selling Lucas Digne to Villa also played a factor towards the Everton fans’ frustration at Benitez, after the Spaniard seemingly fell out with the left-back towards the end of the year, ultimately forcing him out of the club.
The Blues have only won five games all season in the league, with four of them coming after the first six games. Their form has heavily declined since, and have just the one win in their last 13 games – a 2-1 victory at home to Arsenal at the start of December.
Duncan Ferguson is now the temporary caretaker Manager at the club, and will look to bread new life into his Everton side who find themselves in 16th in the league, and just six points off Watford who sit in the relegation zone (18th).
This fixture is the second time these two teams have met this season, with the claret and blue side prevailing thanks to a second-half triumph inspired by the brilliance of Leon Bailey. Matty Cash got the opener on the night with a fantastic individual goal, but Bailey took all the plaudits after causing Digne to find his own net from a corner to double the lead, and belting home a powerful strike for the third.
Gerrard will look to end the winless streak he finds himself on and make it two from two against Everton this season, with the added incentive of getting one over his former Merseyside rivals. Can Villa win their first game since the 2-0 away victory at Norwich City over a month ago, or will Duncan Ferguson and his Everton side take advantage of the new manager bounce?
TEAM NEWS
Aston Villa can expect vice-captain John McGinn to return to the fold, after serving his 1-match suspension following his attainment of five yellow cards picked up before match-week 19 of the Premier League season. Morgan Sanson replaced the Scotsman in the lineup for the draw with the Red Devils and despite putting in a respectable performance, is likely to be withdrawn from the starting eleven for the returning McGinn.
Aston Villa will be without Leon Bailey once again, with the winger currently sat on the sidelines for longer than originally thought. His due date was foretold to be around early to mid-January, but has now been pushed back to mid-February. He last featured for Aston Villa in the 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City, and has yet to train or play under Steven Gerrard, which is certainly an exciting prospect for the Villa faithful. Can the new Head Coach bring the best out of the Jamaican?
Trezeguet and Bertrand Traore will continue to miss club action as they remain in Cameroon for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Trezeguet’s Egypt have secured their place in the knockout stages, finishing second in their group after beating Sudan and Guinea Bissau. The winger started in their 1-0 defeat to Nigeria, but appeared as a substitute in their victories since. Traore played 85 minutes in Burkino Faso’s defeat to Cameroon on the opening day of the tournament but sadly missed their second fixture against Cape Verde through COVID. The 26 year-old was well enough for their final group game against Ethiopia, and helped his side to a 1-1 draw, which was enough to see them through to the knockouts.
Marvelous Nakamba will of course be unavailable as he continues to recover from the knee injury that looks to keep him out for the season. New signing Robin Olsen will not make the squad for this weekend, as he continues to recover from a rib injury picked up whilst on international duty with Sweden, that has kept him out for the last couple of months.
As for Everton, they have recently welcomed back forwards Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, who have both suffered periods out with injury this season. Richarlison is expected to be in the starting eleven on Saturday, replacing Salomon Rondon up top, after starting from the bench in their recent defeat to Norwich City.
As for absentees, Alex Iwobi will miss the game due to his commitments in AFCON with his home country of Nigeria, who have advanced into the knockout rounds after topping their group with three wins from three.
Anwar El Ghazi, on loan from Villa, is ineligible to play due to this fixture being against his parent club. The Toffee’s new number 34 didn’t appear in their recent defeat against Norwich, and will have to wait another week to get his first minutes in Everton colours.
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Everton midfielder Tom Davies is also set to miss this one, as he continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines following a thigh injury sustained back in November. Jarrod Branthwaite has returned to training this week, but his inclusion is unlikely due to a lack of match fitness.
Meanwhile, former Aston Villa captain Fabian Delph seems as if he will miss the game against his old side through illness which has ruled him out of the last four games. Likewise, Allan’s inclusion is questionable due to illness too.
THE OPPOSITION
This week’s opposition is Everton, managed now by Duncan Ferguson who sits at the helm whilst the Toffee’s board search for the right replacement for Rafa Benitez. The names that are linked to succeed the former Liverpool boss are Frank Lampard, Roberto Martinez and Wayne Rooney, with the former the only one not in management at this time.
As mentioned, Everton are struggling this season and find themselves in an unfavourable position in the league (16th). Their start to the campaign was impressive, beating the likes of Southampton, Burnley and Brighton comfortably early on, and subsequently found themselves within the top four after four games played.
Their decline since has been substantial however, and somewhat surprising. The game that kick-started their downward spiral was the 3-0 defeat at Villa Park, and since this game, they have only come out as victors on two separate occasions in the league.
Defeats against the likes of Watford, Brentford and more recently Norwich City have been incredibly disappointing, with the Blues putting in consistent sub-par performances each week. The Everton faithful have become increasingly more worried over the months with their team dropping down the table at a rate of knotts, and with that, the Everton board felt it was the right call to rid Rafa Benitez of his role in charge.
Duncan Ferguson has featured as caretaker Manager before at Everton, following the dismissal of Marco Silva in December 2019. Whilst only standing in for a matter of games, the Scotsman made quite the impact after beating Chelsea by three goals to one, in a game that helped lift the Blues out of the relegation zone. The former Rangers, Newcastle and Everton striker also helped his side to two respectable draws against both Manchester United and Arsenal in the league, before he was made Assistant Manager to Carlos Ancelotti, who was appointed as the full-time Manager of the club at the end of the year.
Ferguson therefore has some experience as Head Coach, and it is fair to say he was successful during his short time in the role. Former Everton striker, Victor Anichebe, said that “Everton players loved playing under Duncan Ferguson during his last spell as interim manager”, and believes him and former defender Leighton Baines, who is currently deputy to Ferguson, should succeed Benitez on a full-time basis.
Similarly to his playing style, Ferguson is aggressive and demanding, and has a strong desire for success. His passion was heavily admired during his first temporary spell in charge, and it is expected that this trait will be apparent once again. This managerial change comes at a good time for Everton, but a bad time for Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa who would have much rather played against an out of form Rafa Benitez side.
A change like this can really transform a team, much like the one seen at Aston Villa, where since Gerrard’s appointment in November, the Villans look a completely different side in contrast to the one under Dean Smith. Ferguson will look to get the best out of Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin, and help winger Andros Townsend and top-scorer Demarai Gray recapture their fine form from the start of the campaign.
Can Duncan Ferguson be the catalyst of change for Everton and steady the ship for the remainder of the season, or will he too suffer in charge of the Toffee’s, and continue their dismal form and performances?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Gerrard will view the upcoming game against Everton as ‘must-win’, given the form of the Toffees and their current circumstances, as well as the need for Villa to get three points on the board and climb up the table.
The Villans’ next six games feature four teams that sit in the bottom half of the league, and additionally Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion – all relatively favourable fixtures. With that, I believe the next run of games will be decisive in how we finish the season. If we come away with 12 or more points, I can see us possibly challenging for that top 8, maybe sneaking a UEFA Europa Conference League place. However, if we struggle and pick up some disappointing results along the way, we will have to settle for mid-table this year.
This Everton fixture can really kick-start our second half of the season, and can give the lads a whole host of confidence and belief to finish as high as possible in the league. Without the interruption of a midweek cup game, the focus will be wholeheartedly on the Premier League and so there is no excuse not to perform in these upcoming set of games.
The majority of our key players are fit and available for selection this weekend, and after the Manchester United comeback and with John McGinn returning to the side, I think we are in good stead for a solid performance at Goodison Park.
We cannot underestimate this week’s opponents, though, and whilst they are in poor form and face plenty of problems from the top to the bottom of the club, they have number of very talented players over the pitch, and with the standards that Duncan Ferguson demands from his squad, it will certainly be no easy feat.
Because of this, I think it’ll be a tight contest to begin with, but one that Villa can prevail from. I feel we have a stronger starting eleven and enough quality from the bench to impact the game late on if needs be, and therefore I am going for a 2-1 away victory, with Watkins and Ramsey to score.
We seem to have a tendency to concede goals at the moment, with our last clean sheet in the 2-0 victory at Carrow Road. Everton have an abundance of quality upfront too, namely Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison among others, and so I feel the Toffees will get on the score sheet this weekend.
Villa have experienced good form against Everton since their return to the Premier League, winning three and drawing two in the five games since promotion. Let’s hope this good run will continue, and we can get back to winning ways to end the season strongly.
Up the Villa!
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