Match Preview
The Carling Cup win over Preston was the Blues' third in succession since
the harsh home defeat by Tottenham at the beginning of the month, a setback
that hasn't slowed the bandwagon of the Premiership's surprise package
of the season.
Victory at Norwich last weekend showed the resolve that David Moyes's
charges possess and proved that they are third in the Premiership on merit.
This weekend's clash with Aston Villa, however, throws up a couple of
challenges, namely the visit of a talented and well-organised top 10 outfit
— albeit one that was dumped out of the Cup this week by
lower division opposition — and the first real disruption to the
core of Moyes's 4-1-4-1 formation.
Lee Carsley's three-match suspension from the straight red card he received
against Preston comes into immediate effect, leaving a gap in the midfield
holding role that could be filled by Joseph Yobo if Moyes is so inclined. The Nigerian has played in midfield before so, you would think, his natural
central defensive instincts would mesh well with that experience. He doesn't
seem thrilled by the prospect but with his first-team appearances limited
by Stubbs and Weir, he should take the opportunity while it's available.
That should be the only change to the side that started at Carrow Road,
but much depends on whether Alan Stubbs recovers in time from a calf injury. If he isn't passed fit, Moyes can either partner Yobo with Weir and deploy
someone like Steve Watson or Tim Cahill in the holding role, or resort to a standard 4-4-2
with Ferguson up front alongside Bent.
Villa come to Goodison sitting in 9th place thanks largely to their solid
home form. Away from Villa Park, David O'Leary's men are yet to record
a victory which should bolster confidence at Goodison going into this
one.
O'Leary's biggest concern is JLloyd Samuel who looks set to miss his
first game of the season through injury.
Given the Blues' rich vein of form and Villa's poor away form, exemplified
by their midweek defeat to Burnley, this is one heavily favours Everton
on paper. Things are rarely that simple, of course, and the fact that
we have already lost twice at home to top-half opposition, combined with
the reduced attacking threat from playing only one striker up front, this
could be a tricky fixture.
If Everton are to remain in the hunt for Europe, however, this is the
sort of game they can and should win. Mr Moyes will no doubt feel the
same and feel that anything less than three points will be unacceptable.
It would also set up a tasty trip to Stamford Bridge next weekend which
will see the Premiership's 2nd and 3rd-placed teams go head to head. Which
way around the teams will be sitting going into that little six-pointer
will depend largely on what happens this weekend, with Chelsea traveling
to managerless West Brom.
Lyndon Lloyd
Matchday Stats
This will be the 196th meeting between
Everton and Aston Villa in all competitions, and the 97th at home. This
match will be the 25th meeting in the Premier League and will continue the
current English record as the most played league fixture in English
football history, being the 179th league meeting between the clubs.
Everton's full record against Aston
Villa is:
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Premier League |
24 |
5 |
7 |
12 |
18 |
31 |
Division One |
154 |
63 |
36 |
55 |
257 |
242 |
FA Cup |
8 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
14 |
15 |
League Cup |
9 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
10 |
TOTALS:
|
195 |
73 |
48 |
74 |
299 |
298 |
Our record at home to Villa is:
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Premier League |
12 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
12 |
12 |
Division One |
77 |
39 |
19 |
19 |
146 |
95 |
FA Cup |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
9 |
9 |
League Cup |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
TOTALS:
|
96 |
48 |
22 |
26 |
173 |
120 |
The last match between the sides, and
also the last match between the sides at Goodison, was on 28 February this
year when goals from Thomas Gravesen and Tomasz Radzinski secured a 2-0
victory for Everton.
There have been 4 Everton hat-tricks
against Aston Villa over the years. The last was on 10 December 1927,
when Bill 'Dixie' Dean got 3 goals on his way to his 60 goal haul that
season. Bobby Irvine, on 21 January 1922, is the only Everton hat-trick
to be scored against Villa at home! And the first hat-trick against them
was on 30 September 1895, when John Bell got 3 goals, but unfortunately
became the first Everton player to score a hat-trick and finish on the
losing side as Villa won the match 4-3.
The most common victory for Everton is
2-0, which has happened 16 times in Everton's 73 victories. Aston Villa's
most common victory is 2-1, which has happened 18 times in their 74
victories. The most common draw between the teams is 2-2, which has
occurred 22 times in the 48 draws between the sides.
Everton's record for 30 October is:
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Premier League |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
Division One |
12 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
25 |
24 |
League Cup |
5 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
7 |
TOTALS:
|
19 |
9 |
2 |
8 |
36 |
33 |
This is the first time the sides have
met on this day. The last Premier League match on this day was in 1999,
when Everton travelled to Middlesbrough and, despite a goal from Kevin
Campbell, lost 2-1. In fact this will be the first Premier League match
at home on this day, as the only other Premier League match on this day
was away to Ipswich Town in 1993, when goals from Stuart Barlow and an
Ipswich Town own-goal (despite Peter Beagrie's claims), secured a 2-0
victory.
Jack Hillman was born on this day in
1870 in Tavistock. Signed from Burnley in February 1895, Jack made 38
appearances for Everton, before being sold to Dundee.
Charlie Leyfield was also born on this
day in 1911 in Chester. Charlie also made 38 appearances for Everton, as
well as scoring 13 goals, before being sold to Sheffield United.
18 years later, in 1929, saw the birth
of a certain David Hickson in Ellesmere Port. Dave had two spells with
the club. He was first signed as an apprentice in May 1948, before being
sold to Aston Villa in September 1955. Dave then arrived back at Goodison
Park from Huddersfield Town in July 1957, before making the short trip to
Liverpool in November 1959. In fact Dave can lay claim to having played
for all three of Merseyside's teams after he also played for Tranmere
Rovers. During this time, Dave made a total of 243 appearances for
Everton, whilst grabbing 111 goals.
Another Everton forward born on this
day, in 1945, was Rod Belfitt, who was born in Doncaster. Arriving from
Ipswich Town in November 1972 (in a deal that saw David Johnson move the
opposite way), Rod made just 19 appearances for Everton and scored just 3
goals, before his Merseyside nightmare was ended with a transfer to
Sunderland in October 1973.
Paul Power was also born on this day in
1953 in Manchester. Paul was signed from Manchester City in June 1986,
and was a member of the 1987 Championship winning side. During his time
at Goodison, Paul made 71 appearances for Everton and weighed in with 7
goals.
Another Paul, this time Paul Wilkinson,
was born on this day in 1964 in Grimoldby. Signed from Grimsby Town in
March 1985, Paul went on to make 46 appearances and scored 15 goals before
being sold to Nottingham Forest in March 1987.
Jimmy Hill (no, not him!) won his second
Northern Irish cap as an Everton players in their 1-0 defeat against Spain
on this day in 1963.
Martin Dobson won his only England cap
as an Everton player on this day in 1974 against Czechoslovakia in a 3-0
England win.
Ted Sagar appeared for the Football
League against their Scottish League counterparts on this day in 1935.
Milestone's that can be reached in this
game:
-
If Nigel Martyn
starts the match, this will be his 50th start for Everton in all
competitions.
-
If Duncan Ferguson
starts the match, this will be his 150th start for Everton in the
Premier League.
-
If everton score,
the first goal will be the 300th the club has scored against Aston Villa
in all competitions.
-
If the match fails
to end in a draw, then the team will set a new club record of 9
consecutive league matches at home without a draw.
Steve Flanagan

Defiant Villa Deny Everton
I had one of them nightmare starts to the day and kinda got the
feeling it wasnt gonna be Evertons... Weve all had them mornings
when everything goes wrong: You cut yourself shaving, you drop a
pint of milk everywhere on the kitchen floor, you stub your toe. After all that, there was flippin train delays... Great!
Finally got back and made it to the pub for about 1pm to watch
Birmingham vs Crystal Palace. The boozer had lost its licence or
somat so had to watch Malmo vs IFK Gothenburg on Canal+. Anyways we
got the match in good time.
I was thoroughly expecting Everton to simply install Yobo into Carsleys defensive position but was surprised to see Watson
deployed on the right instead with Cahill doing the defensive bit.
Was even more surprised to find Yobo wasnt even on the bench and
Fox making the squad for the first time. Was there a fall-out with
Yobo or was he just injured or somat?
We kicked off towards the Park End and it was quite a scrappy
opening. Good work by Gravesen created an opening for himself but
unfortunately it was on his left foot and Sorensen saved
comfortably. Following that was a great chance for Kilbane who
drilled it into the side netting. Really should have hit the target.
Shortly afterwards from a deep Watson cross Stubs got up well and
looped his header over the keeper but unfortunately not over Delaney
on the goal line. He is long overdue a goal, Stubbsy; I dont think
he has scored since January 2002, away at Stoke City in the FA Cup.
After this, Villa seemed to find their rhythm and had a good bit
of possession, albeit to no avail. Closest they came from what I
remember was a long range drive from Nobby Salono which was well
wide.
Well it was just when Everton seemed to be finding their rhythm
when that little ugly shit Lee Hendrie pops up with a cracking goal
out of nothing. Nice lay off from Angel and a first time shot from Hendrie sailed into the corner of
the net. I thought Martyn was a
little slow getting there to be fair and might have saved it. Still,
good goal.
Evertons response was determined and they were soon level. Osman
broke free into the box and had his drive well blocked by the
impressive Melberg. The resulting corner was cleared. Pistone hoofed
it back in and it was cleared. This time to Weir who feigned a shot
before slipping a lovely ball through to Bent who coolly chipped it
over the out-rushing Sorensen and into the net. Good goal from Bent
whos clearly playing with confidence. Thats three goals in a week
now for him. Where have them boo-boys gone?
All I really remember from the rest of the half were two overhead
volleys from Bent. One which drifted harmlessly wide and the other
which bought a smart save from Sorensen down to his left. Otherwise,
Weir skied a half chance. Everton finished the half certainly more
dominant. I did apparently miss a cracking tackle from Stubbs
which prevented Angel being through on a one-on-one, however, when I
went for a quick piss.
At half-time, Dave Hickson came out to get a warm welcome for his
75th birthday which was a nice touch. This also bought Bill
Kenwright out and I didnt know what to expect from the crowd but
the majority applauded him which I was a little surprised by. I
guess its cos were doing OK though. If we were doing as badly as
most of us were probably expecting us to be doing, then I think his
reception would have been somewhat less friendly. The subs warming
up all tried to do Soccer AMs cross bar challenge and only Fox
managing to hit it. Guess he wins the signed shirt cos the geezer
from New Zeeland couldnt do it at the Park End in Evertons
official win a car contest.
Second half yielded no changes from either team and Everton were
the better side in the second. Right at the start of the
half they nearly scored a great goal. They were seriously flicking
the ball around like Brazil. Gravesen flicked it to Watson. He
cushioned it beautifully and flicked it on to Bent. He controlled
then flicked it on to Cahill. He volleyed it overhead to Osman. He
let fly on the half volley from about 12 yards but unfortunately
just over the bar. If hed have done one more flick to Kilbane he
would have presented him with a wonderful opportunity to put Everton
in front.
Kilbane however did have a good opportunity a bit later on when
he hit the side netting from I think around six yards out. It was at
an angle but he never really got hold of it.
Everton came closest to scoring with Osman following good work by Gravesen
and then by Bent. He cut it back to Osman who teed himself up on the
volley. He cut it well, crisp and low. Found the far corner. Did
everything right and was so, so unlucky to see it come back off the
inside of the far post. We assumed it was in and were already
celebrating. Very unlucky. I think Sorensen might have got the
slightest of touches to it. In which case good save.
Villa hadnt given up, though; Carlton Cole really should have
scored when it was played into him from Solano after Angel had cut
it back. Somehow he blazed wide from six yards, however although the
ref did give a corner so Weir must have blocked well.
Everton huffed and puffed after this but Villa defended well and
Everton couldnt score. There was a possible penalty claim which got
Stubbs to race the whole length of the field to remonstrate with the
ref but I reckon it was more ball to hand myself and wouldve been
harsh. Who said things go your way when your at the top?
Ferguson came on with about 25 minutes to go for Watson but this
lead to more long balls and it just wasnt effective. I thought
McFadden could have been introduced a bit earlier than with 7
minutes to go, but judging on that 7 minutes can see why he wasnt.
Trying hard but its just not working for him. I think he just
needs a goal or a brilliant assist and itll start working for
him. Hell be alright... I hope.
So will we. We really cant complain about things at the moment. As we were leaving the full-time
scores came out and it was great to see
Man Utd loosing at Portsmouth, Arsenal drawing with Southampton and
then later on Liverppol being held at Blackburn. Hopefully Newcastle vs Bolton will end in a draw today. As we were leaving some fella
said to me, Whod have thought wed have been looking out for Man
Us, Arsenals and Chelseas results now? Certainly not me and
certainly not must of the media. Its all gone quiet over there.
Bring on Chelsea!
Player Ratings:
- Martyn: Think he might have saved the goal but
otherwise had nothing to do. 6
- Pistone: Clearly very low on
confidence. 6
- Stubbs: Excellent defensive performance by our
captain. 8
- Weir: Excellent defensive performance by our ex-captain.
8
- Hibbert: Stuck to his task well and got down the line a few times.
7
- Kilbane: Not one of his better days but you cant fault his work
rate. 6
- Cahill: Got stuck in, particularly in the second half. Also
picked up his obligatory booking. 7
- Osman: Extremely unlucky not to
score but shit happens I guess. Had a good game. Got subbed late on
I think by default more than anything else. 7
- Gravesen: His usual Jekyll and Hyde showing. Encapsulated in the final minute when he
unnecessary wriggled before playing it wide to Kilbane. Only problem
was it was about 10 yards too high and out for a throw in. 7
- Watson:
Fairly anonymous before being subbed for Ferguson. Fully
expect him to be dropped next week for Yobo. 6
- Bent: My man of the match. Ran himself into the ground
and scored a good goal. 9
- Ferguson: Ineffective. 5
- McFadden: Ineffective. 5
Paul Traill

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