At A Glance
Aston Villa play their first home match of the new season on Saturday when they welcome Everton to B6.
Steven Gerrard’s side will be hoping home advantage helps them bounce back from a 2-0 opening day defeat at the hands of Bournemouth last weekend.
Villa did manage to do the double over the Toffees last term, with Gerrard in charge for the 1-0 win at Goodison Park in January.
Everton boss Frank Lampard lined up in the same England midfield as Gerrard for many years, and this is will be their first meeting as managers.
The Merseysiders were also on the losing side in their first Premier League outing of the campaign, going down 1-0 against Chelsea.
However, the Toffees will be boosted by the arrivals of Conor Coady and Amadou Onana in the lead up to this game.
Standout Stats
This is the most-played fixture in English top-flight history, with the sides having met 208 times. Aston Villa lead by 77 wins to Everton's 76, with 55 draws.
Everton are the only side who Villa are unbeaten against in all three seasons since returning to the Premier League (W4, D2).
The most recent of Everton's four Premier League away wins in 27 attempts against Villa was by 3-1 in March 2016 (D9, L14).
Villa have won their opening Premier League home fixture without conceding in each of the past two seasons.
Lucas Digne made 127 competitive appearances for Everton before joining Aston Villa in January 2022.
Everton are unbeaten in their opening Premier League away match in each of the past 11 seasons since a 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers in 2010-11 (W5, D6).
However, they earned just 10 points out of a possible 57 away from home last season, the joint-worst record in the division alongside relegated Norwich.
Everton could fail to score in their first two league matches of a season for the first time since 1998-99.
The Last Meeting
A stunning leap from Emiliano Buendia saw Aston Villa leave Goodison Park victorious when the two sides met last.
The playmaker was backpedalling when he superbly diverted Lucas Digne’s corner across goal and in at the far post with a stunning header.
Tyrone Mings made a crucial goalline clearance as Villa held on to record a first top-flight double over Everton since the 2000/01 season.
Team News
Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendía have both been declared fit for Saturday, while Kortney Hause is the only player set to miss out through injury.
Conor Coady and Amadou Onana are available to make their Everton debuts with Saloman Rondon also returning after suspension.
Yerry Mina, Ben Godfrey and Andros Townsend will all miss out through injury.
The Boss
“We’ve responded well in terms of training and preparation going into this week. We’re at home tomorrow in front of a full house at Villa Park, so I’m wanting the players to go out and be positive and brave. I want them to give a better account of themselves because we can’t expect to get anything when we post that level of performance.”
Steven Gerrard
