ASTON VILLA entertain Everton on Saturday evening in a meeting between two teams who have had contrasting starts to the new Premier League season.
Bedding in a number of new signings was always going to be a tricky task for Dean Smith who's new-look team appear to be going through a period of transition.
Villa have managed just a single win from their opening four matches, a 2-0 victory against Newcastle in their first home fixture of the new campaign.
However, Smith's side showed real signs of encouragement in a spirited 3-0 loss at Chelsea last time out but in-form Everton will present Villa with another stern test this weekend.
The Toffees maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-1 win over Burnley on Monday, on a night where my recommended Bet Builder banked.
The appointment of Rafa Benitez was far from universally popular but three wins from four would have gone some way to getting the Spaniard into the good books of the Blues faithful.
Outright Betting
Aston Villa have avoided defeat in each of their last four encounters with Everton and the hosts are slight 15/11 (SBK) favourites on Saturday evening.
Everton have lost just two of their last 17 Premier League away matches but the Merseysiders are marginal 28/13 (SBK) outsiders while the draw is trading at 12/5 (SBK) with the same bookmaker.
Betting Angles
The bookies are finding it hard to separate the teams and I'm going to steer clear of the 1×2 market and instead head to Bet 365's Bet Builder feature
If we combine over one match goal, over five match corners and each team to see at least one card we can get some 4/5 (Bet 365) and that appeals.
Each of Everton's opening four games of the season have featured two or more goals, with the Blues bagging a brace in all four of their fixtures thus far.
As for Aston Villa, all but one of their four matches have gone through the over 1.5 goal barrier so I'm more than happy to side with at least a couple of strikes combined at Villa Park on Saturday.
The early signs are that Benitez's preferred system focuses on width while Villa are traditionally strong corner performers, so throwing six or more flag kicks into the formula doesn't look like too much to ask for in what should be an entertaining encounter.
Craig Pawson has the whistle in the West Midlands and dished out an average of 38.04 bookings points per-game last season, not to mention the Sheffield-born match official has awarded both teams at least one booking in each of his three Premier League outings this term .
With all that in mind, I'll revisit the Bet Builder market and combine each team to see over zero cards and over three match cards, another 4/5 shot at Bet 365.
The above-mentioned combination clicked for me in Aston's Villa's opening weekend loss at Watford and it has also banked in the last two top-flight tussles that referee Pawson has been put in charge of.
This English Premier League match between Aston Villa and Everton will be played on Sep 18, 2021 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Aston Villa vs Everton prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
