Everton's revival has ground to a halt and the next game in their battle against relegation doesn't look easy with high-flying Aston Villa at Goodison Park on Sunday (14:00).
Villa have a fine record over Everton in recent times and will hope to maintain that superiority against a side fighting for their Premier League lives.
- Aston Villa to win
- John McGinn to score or assist
- Over 4.5 Everton corners
Villa Eyeing Up Top Spot
The carrot of going joint top of the table with a win should ensure a thoroughly professional performance from Unai Emery's sparkling Aston Villa, who can deliver at Goodison Park.
The Villans went into this round of matches second in the table and showing no sense that they don't belong in such rarefied heights.
Fresh from a pair of wins either side of the turn of the year over Burnley in the league and Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, confidence will be on the up.
For Everton, however, they simply cannot escape the dogfight at the bottom. Massively improved after being hit with a 10-point deduction, they have lost their way of late with a five-match winless streak encompassing all three domestic competitions.
They remain inconsistent – they were unlucky to lose 2-1 at Tottenham where they carved out chances galore but were terrible in a 3-0 drubbing at Wolves – and they also look light in attack. They create plenty of opportunities but with Dominic Calvert-Lewin horribly off colour, they aren't taking many.
Scoring goals is no trouble for Villa – only Manchester City have found the net more times than they have this season.
And Villa just love this fixture. Since winning promotion back to the top flight, Villa have played Everton nine times in the league and not lost, winning seven of those fixtures.
McGinn To Play His Part
Villa are getting goals from all around the park this season with 12 different Premier League goalscorers.
High among those is John McGinn, who has got five goals in the league and two in Europe, making it his joint-best scoring campaign since moving south from Hibernian six years ago.
On top of that, the Scottish international has also supplied a quartet of assists – two in the Premier League, two in the Conference League – and is a major threat in a more forward role this season.
McGinn is well worth considering as an anytime scorer but is an even better consideration to score or assist.
JOHN MCGINN TO SCORE OR ASSIST
Corners With Everton Dead-Ball Barrage
Everton and Aston Villa are two sides who appreciate the value of a dead-ball having between them scored 18 goals from set-plays this term.
There's a temptation to back a headed goal given the delivery from set-plays is clearly top notch, though a safer bet is to go over 4.5 corners for Everton.
Everton are a positive, direct side under Sean Dyche, who are in the top 10 in the division for shots taken, thus increasing their prospects of winning corners.
The Toffees average 5.1 corners per home match while Villa concede an average of 5.0 corners per away match.
