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Everton and Aston Villa meet this weekend as the Premier League returns following the international break.
The home side endured an extremely frustrating summer in the transfer market and haven’t started the new campaign particularly well either.
On transfer deadline day, Everton lost star player Mikel Arteta to Arsenal and were unable to bring in a replacement before the window slammed shut.
This left fans of the club extremely frustrated and there has even been talk of the Toffees enduring a relegation battle this year given the lack of strength in depth of their squad.
Their start to the campaign hasn’t done too much to dispel these fears either. After their opening day clash with Tottenham was postponed, they lost to newly promoted Queens Park Rangers before battling to a somewhat fortunate victory at Blackburn last time out.
There is no doubt that David Moyes’ men need a boost and this starts with three points against Aston Villa this weekend.
The away side are more than capable of getting a positive result at Goodison Park though and they will be in confident mood after an unbeaten start to the new campaign.
There were some very negative vibes when former Birmingham boss Alex McLeish was handed the manager’s role at Villa, but after draws with Fulham and Wolves as well as a comfortable victory over Blackburn, he appears to have won many people earlier.
If nothing else, Villa certainly look like being difficult to beat this season. McLeish prides himself on a solid defence and this, combined with the goals of Darren Bent, should stand them in good stead for the next few months.
They did lose Stewart Downing and Ashley Young in the transfer window, but nobody can hold McLeish as responsible for this. He has brought in decent replacements too with Charles N’Zogbia and Jermaine Jenas arriving at the club.
Shay Given was also signed by Villa and he has already showed what an important player he will be for them this season.
Overall, this is a tough match to call, although more pressure will be on the home side to secure three much needed points.
Match Odds
Home advantage means that Everton are favourites for this one. They are available at 2.10 (11/10) while Aston Villa are 3.75 (11/4) to pick up three points on the road.
As the match is between two teams with similar ambitions this year, it is worth noting that the draw can be backed at 3.25 (9/4) @ Bet365.
First goalscorer
Unsurprisingly, Darren Bent is favourite to opening the scoring with odds of 7.00 (6/1) @ Bet365, although having missed the England game in midweek, there could be doubts over his fitness.
For Everton, Louis Saha (5.50 / 9/2) is the man most likely to get the home side in front, while Tim Cahill – who often scores important goals – can be backed at 6.50 (11/2) @ Bet365.
A good outside bet could be new Villa signing Charles N’Zogbia who can be backed at 15.00 (14/1) to get off the mark for his new club with the opening goal on Saturday.
Recommended bets
The game to end in a draw @ 3.25 (9/4)
Charles N’Zogbia to score first @ 15.00 (14/1)
