‘Doesn’t look great for them’: Paul Merson predicts Everton v Aston Villa result

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Everton host Aston Villa at Goodison Park in the Premier League this Saturday.

The Toffees have improved under Sean Dyche, with two wins out of three since he took the reins.

Everton moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Leeds United last time out.

The Blues are 16th in the Premier League table and will move level on points with 14th-placed Leicester if they win.

Everton will also be hoping to make it three wins in a row at Goodison Park in the 3pm kickoff.

Meanwhile, Unai Emery’s Villans will be desperate to stop a losing run which currently spans three matches.

Aston Villa had won three away games in a row before losing 3-1 at Manchester City on 13 February.

The Villans currently sit 11th in the table with 28 points from 23 league outings.

In addition, the B6 outfit has conceded 11 since the start of February and scored only five.

‘Tight contest’

Paul Merson spoke about the upcoming Goodison fixture on Sportskeeda.

The former Villa ace believes Everton will record a 1-0 win over the claret-and-blue side.

Merson reckons the Villans’ defence is starting to look leaky and it “doesn’t look great for them”.

“The 1-0 win over Leeds United last Saturday was an amazing result for Everton,” he wrote.

“Sean Dyche is a very good manager and the top brass are probably sitting there thinking they should have pulled the trigger earlier on Frank Lampard.

“If they had brought Dyche in a bit sooner than they eventually did, they wouldn’t have gotten beaten by some of the teams that beat them towards the end of Lampard’s reign.

“If Everton draw this game, they’ve turned it around already. They’ve got six points in their last three matches.

“Arsenal vs Villa was a good game but Unai Emery’s side is starting to leak goals.

“They’ve conceded 11 goals in their last three matches and it doesn’t look great for them right now.

“I expect Everton to win this one. It will be a tight contest but I expect the Toffees to come out on top.”

TBR prediction

Although Villa’s defending hasn’t been great, they’re not exactly up against a free-scoring opponent.

Both of Everton’s goals under Dyche were scored by defenders, and their front line continues to struggle.

Meanwhile, Villa’s attack has been decent, with Ollie Watkins in a great run of form.

In my opinion, this game could either be dull as dishwater or a goal-fest, nothing in between.

Let’s go for the latter and predict a 2-2 draw.