Football Results

The first match of the third round brings duel between a returnee to the Premier League and team with great ambitions. In accordance with those ambitions Everton started the new season and it won four points in first two rounds. Aston Villa didn’t start well and lost both matches despite scoring a goal in both of them. They met the last time in 2016 and Everton won then in Birmingham 3-1.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa players realised how much harder it is to play in the Premier League than in the Championship already in first two rounds. The Villans didn’t shine in the second division and they earned promotion through the play-off, and now they have huge problems mostly in defence. In the first round they had a lead for a long time against Tottenham but in last 20 minutes they received three goals. They expected that home match with Bournemouth in the second round at will be easier, however, already after 10 minutes they were losing 0-2. Aston Villa couldn’t annul that it only managed to lessen the defeat. Manager Smith had replaced  only Hourihane and D. Luiz played instead. Now, we expect to see Guilbert and Jota on the pitch.

Probable lineups Aston Villa: Heaton – Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett – D. Luiz, McGinn, Grealish – Trezegeut, Jota – Wesley

Everton

Everton plays well at the start to new season but it's no surprise as they brought numerous reinforcements this summer and their objective is to reach positions that lead to the Champions League. They didn’t have difficult rivals in first two rounds but they didn’t receive a single goal and what doesn’t work as planned for the time being is goal scoring. They scored just one goal and but it was enough to win Watford at home the last round. Bernard scored early on, while in the first round they drew withg Crystal Palace 0-0. Refreshment in the team could be young forward M. Kean, who is significant reinforcement brought this summer.

Probable lineups Everton: Pickford – Coleman, Keane, Y. Mina, Digne – Gbamin, A. Gomes – Richarlison, G. Sigurdsson, Bernard – M. Kean

Verdict:

Aston Villa wants to win a point as soon as possible in order to avoid being nailed to the bottom, but Everton is not the best opponent for something like that. We expect that the guests will again play a strong defence, which will result with just a couple goals scored in Birmingham.

Pick: Under 3 goals 1.73 - 73/100 @1XBet