Aston Villa are confident they can get their English Premier League title ambitions back on track when they welcome Everton to Villa Park on Sunday afternoon.
Villa remain with a realistic shot at pushing for the league title this season despite being held to a barren draw by Crystal Palace in their last league outing. They followed that up with a 2-1 victory to knock Tottenham out of the FA Cup.
Their remarkable form this season sees them occupy third place on the log with 43 points, level with second place Manchester City. While the visiting Everton are in 12th with 29 points.
The Toffees have only managed one win in their last five matches, a convincing 2-0 away victory at Nottingham Forest on December 30.
Everton lost 3-0 to Sunderland on penalties to knock them out of the FA Cup. James Garner, Thierno Barry and Beto all missed their spot kicks and are all hoping to turn their fortunes around when they travel to Villa.
Villa have kept 25 Premier League clean sheet against Everton, which is more than any other club. This will be encouraging for Unai Emery’s side as they look to return to winning ways.
We have a look at all the key details of the match and offer our predicted outcome.
What time does the game start?
The match kicks off at 7:30PM E.A.T
Aston Villa vs Everton team news
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez suffered a calf injury against Palace and remains doubtful for this game. He joins Boubacar Kamara on the sidelines.
Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana remain injured but Evan Guessand returns after his Ivory Coast were knocked out of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.
Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers have been outstanding for Villa and will both start in their attacking roles, as well as John McGinn in the forward roles.
For the visiting Everton, Jack Grealish is available after serving a one-match suspension and will start, with Thierno Barry retaining his starting role in the attack.
Dwight McNeill is also primed for yet another start after bright displays in their last two outings, as well as Garner in midfield.
Aston Villa vs Everton head-to-head and current form
Villa are unbeaten in all of their 13 league games against Everton since 2019 and are confident they can continue that streak here.
The last game between these two sides last season ended in a barren draw, though Villa were 1-0 winners in the reverse fixture. Everton are desperate to snap a poor run of form, winning just once in their last seven games.
Current form:
Aston Villa – WDWLW
Everton – DDLWD
Aston Villa vs Everton previous games:
- Everton 0-0 Aston Villa (2025)
- Everton 0-1 Aston Villa (2025)
- Aston Villa 3-2 Everton (2024)
- Everton 0-0 Aston Villa (2024)
- Aston Villa 1-2 Everton (2023)
Aston Villa vs Everton prediction
This hames brings two teams on opposing runs of form and Villa’s consistency and ability to score goals, gives them the edge ahead of this encounter.
With only two clean sheets in their last seven matches, Everton will concede at least one goal in this game.
Prediction – Aston Villa to win or draw