Villa – Everton: A banana skin?

I’ll bet we’re pretty much all thinking the same thing and it’s that this game has banana skin written all over it.
We’re meeting what should really be classed as a poor Everton side, who are stuggling: so much so that Frank Lampard has been getting more stick than even our own manager lately, which is saying something.

This really ought to be straightforward game for any team aspiring to be pushing for a European place, but how like the Villa would it be for us to lose this with yet another poor performance?

Much has been made of the hot weather, but from the little I saw and what everyone has said of the Bournemouth game, it’s not like we rely on hard graft and pace, so add in water breaks and I don’t see how it should affect us much.
If anything, it’s much more likely that Everton will outwork us, so they’ll be more prone to the heat.

Steven Gerrard is suddenly under serious pressure to win this game after such a dire performance last week and rightly so to my mind, because our next five games (Palace away, West Ham home, Arsenal away, Man City home and Leicester away) look at best, tough. In fact if we lose today, then even the following game against Southampton doesn’t look very winnable either.
In fact, we might as well go the whole hog and say every game looks tough.
We just can’t afford to lose this game and if we go behind, I can see the manager getting dog’s abuse.
Even this early in the season.

Squad news then and the lads are all fit, Hause apart and yes, that includes Mings, who apparently had a slight abductor injury. Will he start?
Even I have to confess he should do, because even though I don’t rate him in the air, he is the tallest player in a not very tall squad.
It’s not much of a reason really, but it does demonstrate that when looking for players, height needs to be factored in. The Premier league isn’t known as the most physical in the world for no reason, after all.
But then I’m telling you what everyone already knows. Apologies.
Sometimes it’s too easy to state the bleeding obvious.

Everton have Yerry Mina (ankle) and Ben Godfrey (leg) out with injuries.
Solomon Rondon is available after a three match ban and is a very forgettable player who typifies what Everton are about these days, but that’s just my opinion.
The Toffees will welcome Conor Coady and Amadou Onana though and I think Coady in particular is a good signing for them. Indeed, I asked a Wolves fan, who follows them home and away, why they’s let him go and he hadn’t got a clue.
He totally agreed with me when I said I couldn’t understand that move.

I wonder if we’re going to pump aimless crosses into his path? I do hope not.

What to think then?
Well, I think I’m glad my betting account is still frozen, like I’m some sort of money launderer, because I don’t think I’d fancy backing us to win.

My heart says this is a Villa win.
My head says it’s a draw, which won’t be good enough to placate the fans in my opinion, unless we’re incredibly unlucky in not getting the win.
But irony says we will lose this.

Hmm, I’ve covered all the bases there, haven’t I?

Decision time and it’s a 1-1 draw.

UTV!