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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 21
Everton v Aston Villa
Goodison Park
Liverpool, England
Sunday, 14 January 2024
Kick-off is at 16h00
Aston Villa have a chance to go level with
Premier League leaders Liverpool when they take on Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday, January 14.
The Villans are enjoying an outstanding season and they ended the calendar year on a high after beating Burnley 3-2 at Villa Park on December 30.
Unai Emery's side halted a two-game winless run in the process as they maintained the two-point gap to Manchester City (3rd) in second place, while the Reds remained three points clear at the summit after running out 4-2 victors against Newcastle at Anfield on New Year's Day.
Arsenal dropped to fourth position following a second straight defeat which left them without a win in their last three matches, having seen the Citizens go above them on goal difference.
Image copyright: Getty Images
The Toffees have been dragged back towards the relegation zone after a 3-0 reverse to Wolves at Molineux on December 30 extended their losing streak to three games.
Sean Dyche's side had been deducted 10 points on November 17, but they managed to win four on the spin at the start of December to pull away from danger.
However, they went into the New Year just one point above the bottom three in 17th spot, with Luton (18th), Burnley (19th) and Sheffield United (20th) all losing on matchday 20 as well to leave the bottom-end of the table unchanged.
Dwight McNeil was one of Everton's better performers against Wanderers, having played in Dominic Calvert-Lewin with a well-weighted pass in the first half, but he failed to hit the target from close range. The winger was unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet himself in the second half after his first-time strike cannoned against the left post.
Leon Bailey is enjoying his most productive season in a Villa shirt and opened the scoring with a wonderful strike against the Clarets. The Jamaican winger has been involved in 11 goals this term and is showing the type of form that persuaded the Villans to sign him from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021.
Dyche admitted the busy festive fixture schedule took its toll on his players in the Black Country, but has seen a marked improvement from the team to not read too much into the performance.
"Our performance was trying to get a team to give as much as they could give. We have asked a lot of them, and there is more coming," he told evertontv.
"The fixture list is unkind to all, we have only got two (league) games for a month or so, yet, we have just come out of eight or nine with injuries and all of that stuff.
"So the biggest message from me is that we have come a long way since the second game of the season (at Aston Villa) which was a similar performance."
Emery was delighted to get a reaction from his players after suffering two consecutive defeats, although he feels the two goals Burnley scored could have been prevented.
"After the last two matches, playing very well here against Sheffield but not taking the three points and then after the good first half in Manchester where we lost in the end, today it was very important to win," the Spaniard said.
"We played well, we controlled the game. It was difficult but we controlled the game. They were playing with one less player on the pitch after the red card, but we played well and reacted very well.
"We conceded two goals and one or two chances more so easily. We have to try to focus on correcting it. At the end, we won and we are very, very happy."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Everton - 0
Aston Villa - 5
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 21 fixtures:
Friday, January 12
21h45: Burnley v Luton Town
Saturday, January 13
14h30: Chelsea v Fulham
19h30: Newcastle United v Manchester City
Sunday, January 14
16h00: Everton v Aston Villa
18h30: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur
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