ClapIt feels like only yesterday that we were diving head first into some Premier League action, and now, we’re about to start it all over again. As reported by BBC and The Express, Aston Villa are set to go head to head with Everton later in this evening as Friday Night Football returns to our screens.
These two sides have had pretty interesting starts to their respective seasons, which comes off the back of campaigns that were, again, very different.
Here they come again
Aston Villa were able to finally gain promotion back to the Premier League back in May, defeating Derby County in the Championship Playoff Final. Everton, on the other hand, looked like they might make a late push for seventh place which would’ve seen them qualify for the Europa League. In the end, though, they were unable to get the job done.
The summer transfer window saw both sides make some pretty substantial changes, with Villa pretty much signing a whole new starting XI. While that may seem a bit over the top to suggest they certainly had the Fulham-esque mentality from last summer, but as we all know, things didn’t quite work out as well for the Cottagers.
Everton, on the other hand, made a series of high profile signings to indicate that they are ready to be known as a top six side once again. Obviously that’s going to take some to accomplish given how overwhelmingly strong the current top six are, but it definitely isn’t impossible, as we’ve seen from Wolves who pushed them all the way last season.
Villa’s fortunes to start things off haven’t exactly been great, with back to back losses on their record. Those losses, you could argue, were a little bit unlucky, but their defensive issues are pretty obvious for everyone to see.
Everton, on the other hand, will be pretty pleased with four points from their first two games. That probably would’ve been close to their goal based on the opposition, and now, they’ve got a great platform with which to build on as they try and solidify themselves as contenders in this division.
Too close to call?
We can see Villa causing Everton some problems in the early stages at Villa Park, feeding off the momentum of the crowd. However, we think the quality of the visitors will see them be the ones to actually take the lead.
Then, after knocking on the door, Villa will score for the third Premier League game running in order to earn their first point of the new campaign.
That’s going to be easier said than done as they’ve got formidable opposition ahead of them, but they’re definitely good enough to get the points on the board.
This is a fixture between two of English football’s greatest all-time teams, and that, in itself, is a pretty exciting thing. One way or another we fancy this to be a really entertaining game to watch, as we start to move towards the end of August and into the full flow of the season.
