Aston Villa will take on Everton on Sunday in their 22nd Premier League fixture of the 2025/26 season.
Villa drew their last game in the Premier League, settling for a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park despite Crystal Palace’s mammoth list of injuries and absences, but were impressive victors in the third round of the FA Cup in their most recent fixture.
Manager Unai Emery has turned winning home games into a habit as much as an art form. Playing at Villa Park again after a couple of away games in the capital is bound to give the team and supporters a lift in the last league game before Europa League action returns next Thursday.
Villa’s last game against Everton was a 0-0 draw at the Hill Dickinson Stadium at the start of the season and it already feels like a distant memory.
It was the first fixture after the season’s earliest international break and the fourth game out of four in which Villa did not score a goal.
It really does feel like it was played by a different team. In most ways, it wasn’t; Villa’s fortunes have improved without wholesale changes.
Everton away was the Villa debut off the bench of Harvey Elliott, who came off the bench before featuring in the next two Premier League games, once each in the Europa League and League Cup, and never again in a Villa shirt.
Emery’s team have failed to score just twice in the Premier League since that game, once nearby against Liverpool in a loss in November and again in this month’s draw at Selhurst Park.
Emery will be without three central midfielders for the visit of Everton, including former Toffees player Amadou Onana. The Belgian could return by the end of January but isn’t expected to feature this weekend.
Ross Barkley will be on the sidelines for a little longer, while concerns over the injury sustained by Boubacar Kamara in the FA Cup win at Tottenham Hotspur will dominate the Villa team news along with the availability or otherwise of goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who was withdrawn at half time against Crystal Palace.
Defender Tyrone Mings is yet to make an appearance since his injury but was fit enough to be named among the substitutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Saturday.
Ivory Coast international Evann Guessand linked back up with his teammates at training on Thursday after coming back from the Africa Cup of nations.
I think Villa now have a reasonably well established preferred eleven. There are tweaks here and there, but with everyone fit there’s a good chance you or I could name nine or ten starters ahead of every game.
Of course, ‘with everyone fit’ isn’t a realistic qualifier, which means that the absences of Onana and Kamara in midfield do leave some questions. Youri Tielemans is the clear answer to one of those questions but the second man in the double pivot is less guaranteed.
With Emery keen to keep pushing Jadon Sancho to a more impactful role in his squad, there’s always the chance John McGinn reverts to midfield. My expectation, though, is that Emery will stick with the midfield and attacking configuration that ended the game against Spurs, with Lamare Bogarde starting in place of Kamara.
At the back, we can be sure Emery will pair Pau Torres with Ezri Konsa unless there’s a very good reason not to. Torres returned from injury last week and played well in the FA Cup game in north London.
Villa’s home game against Everton will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event in the UK.
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➡️ How to watch Aston Villa v Everton: kick-off time, TV channels and streams
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