@ZAPunter takes a look at the English Premier League match between Aston Villa and Everton which takes place on Friday 23rd August
ASTON VILLA VS EVERTON, FRIDAY @ 21.00:
Aston Villa continue the search for their first Premier League points of the 2019/2020 campaign with a home fixture against Everton on Friday night. The Villans were defeated in their first two matches of the new season and Dean Smith will be feeling the pressure early on. Aston Villa spent over 100m Euros on new players and fans will be hoping for an improvement on Friday. Everton’s start to the season has been a lot more encouraging, with the men from Merseyside undefeated and on 4 points. The Toffees haven’t been that great going forward, only scoring 1 goal so far, but the fans will be optimistic with their defence already showing improvement from last season.
ASTON VILLA:
Aston Villa will feel that they deserved something from both losses and that there is no reason to start panicking just yet. The Villans were competitive in both matches, scoring once in each. Taking into account only the first two fixtures, their average xGF goals were 1.37 vs 2.34 xGA. Dean Smith will realise that lapses in concentration have caused them conceding their goals in shorter periods of time, Late on vs Tottenham and early vs Bournemouth. Going forward they will need to be more clinical to survive in the league. Aston Villa don’t want to play catch up with the rest of the league, so they need to get a positive result this weekend.
EVERTON:
The Toffees performances have been workmanlike, working hard when they don’t have the ball and creating opportunities on the break. Did someone say Jose Mourinho? No, rather Marco Silva using a similar style that brought Jose Mourinho so much success. Everton’s average xGF is only 1.11 and xGA 1.00 compared against their actual results, they have been lucky not to concede a goal. Everton fans have high hopes of finishing in the top 6 with their new recruits, but will face a difficult challenge on Friday evening at Villa Park under the lights.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS AND TEAM NEWS:
Aston Villa: 4-5-1
Heaton,
Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett,
Jota, McGinn, Luiz, Grealish, Trezeguet,
Wesley
*Hause, Chester and Kodjia will be missing for Villa due to injuries.
Everton: 4-2-3-1
Pickford,
Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne,
Gbamin, Gomes,
Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Bernard,
Kean.
*Delph is still injured and Schneiderlin suspended.
PREDICTION:
As two pillars of English football come together, can we expect a classic under the floodlights? Maybe not, but I expect Aston Villa to put in a performance and get some kind of result on Friday evening. Aston Villa are far from a finished product, but they have shown fight and glimpses of their ability during the first two games. Everton has performed as expected and will be happy with their results thus far. They have been unable to control games and their opponents had opportunities to find the net. When I created my own odds for this match, the handicap I set was +0.00 (DNB). Clearly the edge for me is taking Aston Villa on the Asian Handicap line, I don’t expect Villa to suffer another defeat and the atmosphere will be electric at Villa Park on Friday evening.
BETTING:
Aston Villa +0.25 – 1.86 @BetOlimp
Current Premier League Record: Week 1 – Week 2
Overall Record: 4-4 (-0.59 Units)
Best Bet Record: 2-0 (+2.19 Units)
Last Week: 3-1 (+0.97 Units)
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
@ZAPunter
