Everton visit Aston Villa on Saturday chasing their first points of the Premier League season and a first win over the Villans since Romelu Lukaku rippled the net in a 3-1 result in 2016.
The Toffees started the 2022/23 top-flight term with a 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea via a first-half stoppage-time penalty by Jorginho on Saturday. Ben Godfrey suffering a fractured fibula and Yerry Mina sustaining an ankle ligament injury also heightened Everton’s angst.
- WORLD CUP: ONE PLAYER TO WATCH FROM ALL 32 NATIONS AT QATAR
- WORLD CUP: TOURNAMENT RECORD OF FRANCE ICON ZINEDINE ZIDANE
Frank Lampard will now be without Godfrey for around three months, while Mina faces an unspecified spell on the sidelines. Not the news the Toffees boss would have wanted with Dominic Calvert-Lewin set to be out for a month after he suffered a knee injury in training.
Injury issues mount as Everton seek first win over Aston Villa since 2016
Frank Lampard will take his injury-hit Everton to Aston Villa on Saturday eying the Toffees’ first win over the Villans’ in six years. The Goodison Park outfit last beat the Villa Park side in March 2016 under Roberto Martinez, whilst the Villans fought their eventual relegation.
Aston Villa fans flocked out of Villa Park in protest at their former owner, Randy Lerner, at 3-0 with 16 minutes to play. Everton delivered a comfortable performance in Birmingham as the Villans suffered their third defeat during what would be a pointless run of 11 matches.
Ramiro Funes Mori put Everton ahead in only the fifth-minute when the defender headed in Kevin Mirallas’ corner. Aaron Lennon later doubled the margin with a close-range strike on the half-hour mark, before Romelu Lukaku also got in on the act on the stroke of the hour.
Rudy Gestede gave the remaining Aston Villa supporters in the stands some consolation in the 79th-minute with a header. But the margin could have been even more favourable for the Toffees, as they climbed into 10th while the Villans were left eight points from safety.
Three years would pass before the two teams met again whilst the Villa Park outfit sought promotion from the Championship. The fixture has been one-sided since, with Aston Villa winning four of the past six meetings and both encounters during the 2021/22 campaign.
Everton have not scored against Aston Villa in their last three meetings, either, and have only kept one clean sheet during the winless run. So, with that in mind, who did Martinez use in his XI at Villa Park the last time Everton took a Premier League win over Aston Villa?
Joel Robles (GK): Starter of last Everton win over Aston Villa now at Leeds
Joel Robles started in goal the last time Everton took a win over Aston Villa in 2016 during his five-year stay at Goodison Park. The Toffees signed the Spaniard from Atletico Madrid in 2013, and he amassed 65 appearances and 25 clean sheets before he joined Real Betis.
Four years at Real Betis would give 78 appearances and 24 clean sheets in all competitions before Robles’ release this summer. He has now returned to the Premier League at Leeds United, having signed a one-year deal at Elland Road as the Whites’ No.2 earlier this week.
Seamus Coleman (RB): Everton captain started club’s last win over Aston Villa
Everton captain Seamus Coleman started the last time the club took a win over Aston Villa in 2016. He joined the Toffees from Sligo Rovers in 2009 for just £60k, and has since made 384 outings. But he missed Saturday’s loss to Chelsea after groin surgery over the summer.
Phil Jagielka (CB): Long-time Everton enforcer now at Stoke City
Long-time Everton defender Phil Jagielka is now plying his trade at Stoke City, his third club since he left Goodison Park. The Toffees released the 39-year-old in 2019 after 385 outings over 12 years, before he joined Sheffield United, Derby County and then Stoke in January.
Ramiro Funes Mori (CB): Goalscorer in last Everton win over Aston Villa
Funes Mori broke the deadlock the last time Everton took a win over Aston Villa in 2016 in just the fifth-minute. The Argentine centre-half only scored five times for the Toffees over his 67 games between joining from River Plate in 2015 and later leaving for Villarreal in 2018.
Everton paid River Plate £9.5m to land Funes Mori, who signed a five-year contract. But he only saw out three before heading to Spain, where the defender enjoyed three seasons up to 2021 and joining Saudi side Al-Nassr. Yet a year on he moved to Mexico with Cruz Azul.
Bryan Oviedo (LB): Salt Lake star almost scored in last Everton win over Villa
Bryan Oviedo now plies his trade in America at Real Salt Lake after the defender joined the Major League Soccer franchise from Copenhagen earlier this August. He spent three years back in the Danish capital after leaving Sunderland in 2019, two years after he left Everton.
The Toffees took Oviedo from Copenhagen in 2012 and called on his services for five years. The 72-cap Costa Rica ace enjoyed 68 outings whilst at Goodison, with two goals and nine assists. He almost hit in the Blues’ last win over Villa, but saw his effort cleared off the line.
Gareth Barry (CDM): Midfielder called time on 22-year career back in 2020
Gareth Barry called time on his 22-year career back in 2020, having enjoyed more than 650 games and made 53-caps for England. The 41-year-old amassed 155 of his outings while at Everton from 2014 to 2017, including starting the Toffees’ last win over Aston Villa in 2016.
Martinez initially acquired Barry on loan from Manchester City in January 2014, before his contract at the Etihad Stadium expired that summer. The midfield anchor would also net the Goodison natives £1m when he joined West Brom under Tony Pulis come August 2017.
James McCarthy (CDM): Former Everton midfielder now title-winner at Celtic
James McCarthy is now a Premiership champion at Celtic after they took Scottish top-flight honours last season. He moved to Parkhead in August 2021 after leaving Crystal Palace for free, two years after the Eagles paid Everton £3m for the 42-cap Republic of Ireland star.
Martinez had splashed out £13m to reunite with McCarthy at Everton in 2013 after leaving Wigan Athletic for Merseyside. The midfielder formed a strong partnership with Barry, but injuries would derail McCarthy’s Goodison Park career – which ended on 133 appearances.
Aaron Lennon (RM): Goalscorer in last Everton win over Aston Villa
Lennon added Everton’s second goal the last time the Toffees beat Aston Villa with one of his nine Blues strikes. The forward – who is currently a free agent after leaving Burnley this June – also offered six assists in 77 games across all competitions between 2015 and 2018.
Everton bought the 21-cap England ace off Tottenham Hotspur for £4.5m after his loan in the second half of 2014/15. Lennon would stay at Goodison until January ‘15 and joining Burnley for £1.5m, after Theo Walcott’s £20m arrival made him surplus to requirements.
Ross Barkley (CAM): Chelsea midfielder could return to Everton this summer
Ross Barkley made 179 first-team appearances at Goodison Park after his emergence from Everton’s academy in 2011. He would leave Merseyside for Chelsea in a £15m deal in 2018 and has since enjoyed 100 games, whilst winning one FA Cup and the Europa League once.
But the 28-year-old only made 14 outings during the 2021/22 season, and Thomas Tuchel left Barkley out of the Chelsea side that beat Everton on the opening day in ‘22/23. 90min also report he is keen to re-join the Toffees, who have been offered a deal, per the Mirror.
Kevin Mirallas (LM): Man of the Match in last Everton win over Aston Villa
Mirallas was the Man of the Match during the last Everton win over Aston Villa in 2016. He laid on the assist for Funes Mori and Lennon’s goals, to end a 454 day wait to create a goal in the Premier League. Even though the Belgian star only started as Tom Cleverley was ill.
Everton signed Mirallas from Olympiacos back in 2012 for £6m, and he remained with the Toffees until 2019 when they agreed to terminate his contract to join Royal Antwerp. The 60-cap international has since played for Gaziantep, Moreirense and, currently, AEL Limassol.
Romelu Lukaku (ST): Goalscorer in last Everton win over Aston Villa
Lukaku rounded out the scoring in the last Everton win over Aston Villa with one of his 87 goals in 166 games for the Toffees. The Belgian also provided 29 assists in all competitions before joining Manchester United for an initial £75m, rising up to a possible £90m, in 2017.
Everton had set their former club-record spend to sign Lukaku from Chelsea in 2014 after a loan spell for £28m. The striker would return to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan in 2021 for a club-record £97.5m, but he will spend the 2022/23 season back at the San Siro on loan.