Everton will aim to continue the excellent winning run, while Aston Villa will be desperate to score a goal when the two sides face off at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday.
The 2025/26 Premier League season resumes this weekend with Gameweek 4 after the dreaded international break ended this week. The latest round of fixtures starts with the game between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest before the action continues with five simultaneous matches, including Everton vs Aston Villa at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Everton would have hoped for a better season-opening clash after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Leeds United. However, the Toffees have put that disappointment behind them with aplomb by embarking on a three-game winning run. That includes two impressive victories in the Premier League, with Jack Grealish inspiring the two results with his elite playmaking performances.
On the other hand, Aston Villa endured a frustrating summer transfer window, where they had to delay most of the business until the last two weeks. That has meant the squad is not in the desired shape, with the West Midlands outfit the only team in England’s top-seven divisions yet to find the back of the net in the 2025/26 season. The poor run of results has left Unai Emery’s men 19th in the Premier League standings.
The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 1-0 win for Aston Villa, with Ollie Watkins scoring the game’s only goal. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Everton
The international break was kind to Everton, as David Moyes has no new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Everton manager will be bereft of the services of three first-team players vs Aston Villa on Saturday.
Jarrad Branthwaite is the most notable absentee, although he is closing in on returning from a hamstring injury. The English international accompanies Nathan Patterson (hernia) and Vitaliy Mykolenko (match fitness) on the sidelines, while Adam Aznou (ankle) faces a late fitness to determine his availability.
With Mykolenko likely unavailable and Aznou not fit enough to start, James Garner will start as the left-back. The Englishman will accompany Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, and Michael Keane on the sidelines. Jordan Pickford is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Everton lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Aston Villa on Saturday.
As for the midfield unit, Tim Iroegbunam will likely accompany Idrissa Gueye in the double pivot in the middle of the park. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will reprise the no. 10 role, with Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish being the two wide attackers. Finally, Thierno Barry will lead the line for Everton against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Garner; Gueye, Iroegbunam; Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish; Barry
Aston Villa
Like his counterpart in the Everton dugout, Unai Emery has no new issues to worry about ahead of the trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium. The Aston Villa manager may be without as many as five first-team players on Saturday.
Several players face late fitness tests to determine their availability, with Emery sweating over the fitness of Matty Cash (thigh), Amadou Onana (hamstring), Ross Barkley (match fitness), and Boubacar Kamara (thigh). Meanwhile, Andres Garcia remains unavailable due to a knock.
Emiliano Martinez will likely return between the sticks, with Aston Villa lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Everton on Saturday. The backline should feature Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings, and Lucas Digne.
As for the midfield unit, the potential absence of Onana and Kamara means Youri Tielemans will likely sit at the base of the three-player unit, with John McGinn and Harvey Elliott lining up alongside him in the middle of the park. Finally, Ollie Watkins will spearhead the Aston Villa attack against Everton, with Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen being the two wide attackers.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Martinez; Konsa, Pau Torres, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans, Elliott; Malen, Watkins, Rogers
Key Stats
- Everton are winless in their last 12 Premier League matches vs Aston Villa, with each game coming since the West Midlands outfit returned to the top flight in 2019/20 (D3 L9). Their most recent win came in March 2016, a 3-1 win at Villa Park. Meanwhile, the Villans have won on four of their last five away Premier League visits to Everton (D1), keeping a clean sheet in the four most recent clashes. That is Villa’s longest ever run of away league clean sheets against a single opponent.
- Everton have won five of their last six Premier League games (L1), as many as their previous 21 beforehand (W5 D10 L6). At home, the Toffees are looking to win 3+ successive league games for the first time since May 2024 (5).
- For only the second time in the club’s history, Aston Villa have not scored in their first three league games of a season, also doing so in 1997/98 (first three). Only four teams have failed to score in their first four Premier League games of a season: Sheffield Wednesday in 1993/94, Newcastle United in 2005/06, Swansea City in 2011/12 (all 4) and Crystal Palace in 2017/18 (7).
- Everton won their first Premier League match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in Gameweek 2, a 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. Two teams have won their first two matches at their second permanent home stadium in the competition – Derby County at Pride Park in 1997 and Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019. Interestingly, since the start of May, no side has won more Premier League points than Everton (16 – W5 D1 L1), with only Liverpool (14) scoring more goals than the Toffees (13).
- No Englishman has created more chances in the Premier League this season than Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (8). The summer arrival has already played more Premier League minutes for the Toffees (270) than he did for Chelsea in the 2024/25 campaign (259).
Player to Watch
Jack Grealish
While Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Harvey Elliott, and Jadon Sancho were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Jack Grealish as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Everton and Aston Villa at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The English international has been hot off the blocks, starting his bid to resurrect his stuttering fortunes in style. Grealish has assisted two goals in his last two Premier League appearances, becoming the first-ever Everton player to achieve this.
The twin-assist shows have been as many times as he had recorded more than one assist in his first 191 appearances in the Premier League beforehand. No player in Premier League history has ever assisted 2+ goals in three successive matches. So, Grealish will be out to claim that record with another match-winning display this weekend.
Prediction
Everton 2-1 Aston Villa
Everton’s recent record against Aston Villa may not inspire much confidence, but the Toffees are in much better touch than the away side. So, while the hosts have failed to score in their last four home Premier League matches against Aston Villa, that run will unlikely continue this weekend. The only time they have gone five without a home league goal against an opponent was a six-game run against Liverpool between 1973 and 1978.
That unenviable record will remain untouched, as Jack Grealish will continue his excellent start to life as an Everton player. While Aston Villa should produce an improved performance on Saturday, the away side’s defensive vulnerabilities will come to the fore again. So, a closely-contested affair should end in a narrow Everton victory, with The Hard Tackle predicting a 2-1 win for David Moyes and his charges.