Everton’s FA Cup penalty shootout defeat to Sunderland last weekend ensured that the club’s quest to end its current silverware drought would extend into a 32nd year. Whilst the manner of the exit left a sour taste, that the Blues lost was not, in itself, a surprise. Shorn of options due to injury, AFCON and suspension, David Moyes was limited in the team he could put out — signalled by the presence on the bench of only one player who’s had senior minutes this season, in Thierno Barry.
Things aren’t
going to get better in the short term either, with little action on the transfer front being signalled, and returning players not yet back — though Jack Grealish will be available, having completed a one-match ban. Hopefully, that situation will change by the end of the month, but for this afternoon’s road game against Aston Villa, the Toffees arrive in suboptimal condition.
Form
The Birmingham outfit were faced with a tight position – with regard to the Premier League’s financial regulations – heading towards this season, and attempted to rectify this by moving out some significant earners, such as Philippe Coutinho and Leon Bailey, along with selling academy product Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle United for a sizeable fee (€45.2m). Several players arrived, though major funds were committed only to the purchase of Nice forward Evan Guessand (€30m), with other reinforcements arriving as loans (Jadon Sancho, Harvey Elliot), or free transfers (Viktor Lindelöf).
That the veteran former Manchester United centre half has been the one to accrue the most game time so far is indicative of a failed transfer window for Villa. Sancho has been in and out of the side, though has started two of the last four league games, but Elliot is in limbo, having played a combined 174 minutes so far across all competitions. His loan move from Liverpool will be made permanent for an agreed fee of €41m should he make ten league appearances, and Villa have apparently decided that they no longer want the man named player of the tournament during the summer’s Euro 2025 Under-21 tournament.
When today’s hosts arrived at Hill Dickinson Stadium early in the season, they’d yet to win a game – or even score a goal – but frustrated Everton in a goalless stalemate, with a negative game plan. A couple more draws followed, but from the end of September the Midlanders embarked on a complete turnaround in form, and have won 19 from 23 in all competitions, including a run of eleven straight, which was ended only by league leaders Arsenal. They await the visitors having dispatched Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, in the FA Cup, and on an eleven game winning streak at Villa Park.
Team Assessment
Villa will almost certainly line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Emi Martinez faces a late fitness test, so it’s likely that experienced backup Marco Bizot will deputize. The Dutchman is an able replacement, but is nowhere near on the same level as the World Cup winner. Matty Cash will line up at right back, but on the left former Blue Lucas Digne has been alternating with Ian Maatsen. Since the younger man started against Spurs, it’s likely that the 32-year-old Digne will get the nod today. Ezri Konsa is a lock at centre half, and although Lindelöf has started the last six league games in place of the injured Pau Torres, the Spaniard was back for the cup game last weekend, so may retain his spot.
Villa’s midfield will be without both ex-Toffee Amadou Onana and the excellent Boubacar Kamara, due to injury, but Youri Tielemans will look to orchestrate things from a deep position. Lamare Bogarde was handed a rare start against Everton in September, and will do so again. He’s a solid defensive midfielder, but a significant dropoff compared to Kamara, or Onana. Playing higher up will probably be Morgan Rogers, the team’s joint leading scorer, though John McGinn may do so, if Rogers is deployed wide.
With Villa having offloaded their only other senior forward, Donyell Malen to Roma a couple of days ago, the hosts will field Ollie Watkins up top. The England striker endured a slow start to the campaign, but has four goals from his last four league outings and offers an all-around package which troubles the best defenders. Unai Emery has several wide options, with Emi Buendia probably deployed on the left, and McGinn the most likely on the right, although Sancho has been starting there recently and Rogers can play anywhere behind the striker.
Prediction
With the hosts in imperious form for months, and especially so at Villa Park, this presents a stern test for Everton. Grealish’s availability will give the team more quality on the ball, but otherwise this will be the same side which looked short of goal threat, and were outplayed for long stretches a week ago by a Black Cats side also missing several players due to AFCON. Needless to say, Villa are a considerably stronger proposition, and it’s tough to make much of a case for the visitors, unfortunately.
In terms of the Everton team, Moyes will likely replace Tyler Dibling – who’s been the target of much criticism from elements of the fan base recently – and move Dwight McNeil once again to right wing, in order to accommodate Grealish. Whilst Dibling has struggled in his last couple of outings, what exactly McNeil offers at this stage, and particularly when fielded on the right, is honestly a mystery. Otherwise, the only change will be Barry in for Beto, with the latter anonymous in the Cup game. Again, one man has a future at Everton, and the other does not. Forgotten man Adam Aznou enjoyed an exciting cameo against Sunderland, but it’s hard to imagine Moyes using the youngster here in any capacity, sadly.
Away from home, the Toffees have fared rather better than at Hill Dickinson, having lost just once (against Chelsea) from six, picking up three wins. Admittedly, most of those games featured players like Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Idrissa Gueye — none of whom will be present at Villa Park this afternoon, but Everton did score a notable success without any of those against Nottingham Forest. Villa however, are not Forest and Emery is certainly not Sean Dyche. Still, the Blues will set up compactly, give a reasonable account of themselves, and although they’ll end up well beaten, I don’t foresee anything embarrassing.
Score: Villa 2-0 Everton
Statistics provided courtesy of transfermarkt.com and fbref.com
