At A Glance
Aston Villa will walk out at Villa Park for the first time this season when Everton visit in the Premier League on Sunday.
Unai Emery’s team will be looking to make full use of home advantage as they bid to bounce back from an opening day defeat at Newcastle United last weekend.
Three points for the home side on Sunday will set a new club record of eight consecutive top flight wins at Villa Park.
Everton are also looking to rebound positively after going down 1-0 against Fulham at Goodison Park in their first game of the campaign.
Former Villan Ashley Young is now in the Toffees’ ranks and made his debut for the club on opening day.
Manager Sean Dyche will be looking to end Everton’s eight-game winless run against Villa, which stretches back to August 2019.
Standout Stats
This is the most played fixture in English league history - of the 210 top-flight matches between these clubs, Aston Villa have won 79, Everton 76 and there have been 55 draws.
Villa are unbeaten in eight Premier League meetings with the Toffees since their Premier League return to in 2019, winning each of the past four in a row.
Everton could lose their opening two Premier League games for the second successive season.
Villa have won their first home league fixture in each of the past three seasons, including a 2-1 victory over Everton last term.
Jordan Pickford is set to make his 250th Premier League appearance.
Ashley Young returns to his former club Aston Villa, where he made 210 top-flight appearances across two spells, scoring 31 goals.
Unai Emery's side won their final seven Premier League home games last season - their only longer winning run in the league at Villa Park was when they recorded nine top-flight victories on the spin between September 1989 and February 1990.
The Toffees won two of their 19 away league fixtures last season, drawing nine and losing eight.
Moussa Diaby could become the second Frenchman to score in each of his first two Premier League appearances, emulating Anthony Martial for Manchester United in 2015.
Sean Dyche was unbeaten in three Premier League visits to Villa Park while in charge of Burnley, winning once and drawing twice.
Neal Maupay has failed to find the net in his past 28 games in all competitions.
The Last Meeting
Ollie Watkins became the first Villan to score in five consecutive Premier League matches when he netted against the Toffees back in February.
A tough match at Goodison Park swung Villa’s way when the striker netted a penalty just after the hour mark.
Emi Buendía made sure of the three points when he drove a left-footed shot past Jordan Pickford in the final ten minutes.
Team News
Knee injuries will keep Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendía sidelined for prolonged spells, while Jacob Ramsey remains out.
Jhon Duran and Bertrand Traoré have returned to training and Álex Moreno is close to rejoining the group.
Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is close to a return, while Andrew Gomes is dealing with a tight calf.
Dwight McNeil has stepped up his rehabilitation but will miss the game alongside Dele Alli and Seamus Coleman.
The Boss
“It’s a tough match, like every match. They will need to win and they will need to start taking points because they lost the first match. They lost the first match playing very well, they lost not deserving to lose. They are a very competitive team, the coach is very competitive. We respect them a lot and I expect a very difficult match. I’m going to try and get our best performances, individually and collectively, and try to impose our idea and our style against them.”
Unai Emery
