BOTH Aston Villa and Everton will be bidding to bounce back from opening day defeats in the Premier League when the pair lock horns at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime.
Steven Gerrard's side were given a massive reality check at newly-promoted Bournemouth last Saturday, on an afternoon where the Villians slumped to a 2-0 defeat.
That opening day setback was fuelled by the type of inconsistent performances that saw Villa have to settle for a 14th placed finish last term.
Pressure is on Gerrard to deliver improvement this season and he will demand an immediate response from his team when the Toffees come to town.
Everton were embroiled in a survival scrap last season, finishing just four points clear of the drop zone, and Blues boss Frank Lampard faces a big task trying to improve their fortunes.
Despite a spirited performance, the Merseysiders lost their opening league match 1-0 at home against Chelsea, as Jorginho's penalty on the stroke of halftime was enough to secure all three points for the Londoners.
Outright Betting
Despite failing to win any of their last five Premier League matches, Aston Villa enter this contest as 4/5 odds-on favourites with Bet 365.
Everton's road record was the joint-worst in the division last season and that is reflected in the odds, with a Toffees triumph trading at 4/1 (SBK) while the draw is an unfancied 11/4 (SBK) with the same firm.
Betting Angles
It's difficult to have much faith in Aston Villa at the above-mentioned price so I'll head to the Bet Builder market and merge Aston Villa double chance, over zero Aston Villa goals and over four Aston Villa corners at 4/5 (Bet 365).
While Villa have blown hot and cold under Steven Gerrard so far, they have struck at least once in 21 of their 27 Premier League outings under the Liverpool legends' watch.
It's also worth pointing out that the Villians scored at least one goal in 16 of their 19 top-flight outings on home turf last term, including a trio of strikes against the aforementioned travel-sick Toffees.
In fact, Everton failed to shut out their opponents in 17 of their 19 Premier League games away from Goodison Park last season, shipping multiple goals in a sizeable 13 of those assignments.
With this in mind, I'm happy to couple up Aston Villa double chance and Aston Villa to score, but to conclude the Bet Builder, I'll also throw over four Aston Villa corners into the mix.
Gerrard's charges were averaging north of five corners per-game in the Premier League last season, not to mention they covered the 5+ flag kick line in last week's loss at Bournemouth.
Considering Everton's well-documented defensive issues, I'll also have a nibble on the even-money on offer with William Hill for Aston Villa to score two or more goals.
Granted, Villa's form has been undepictable under Gerrard, but they they possess some excellent attacking players that have the technical tools to trouble a Toffees team that are not exactly renowned for being watertight.
This English Premier League match between Aston Villa and Everton will be played on Aug 13, 2022 and kick off at 12:30. 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.
