Aston Villa vs Everton
Venue: Villa Park
Kick off: 3pm
Aston Villa continue their battle for Premier League survival when they play host to Everton – one of the form sides in the division on Saturday (today).
The FA Cup finalists are two points above the relegation zone, with four games of their season remaining, the first of which is the visit of an Everton side that is unbeaten in six games.
Tim Sherwood was enjoying a rather good April until this week.
The former Tottenham Hotspur boss had made a satisfying and triumphant return to White Hart Lane and led Villa into the FA Cup final with victory over Liverpool at Wembley.
However, results have not gone for the Villans over the last few days.
Either side of them being beaten late by Manchester City, they saw Leicester catch up with them from behind and Hull City jump above them in the table.
Things could have concluded very differently at the Etihad Stadium, where Villa suffered a 3-2 defeat after coming from two goals down.
With the scores at 2-2 and Villa in the ascendancy, Sherwood feels that they were denied a stonewall penalty when Joe Hart felled Christian Benteke.
Two more wins should be enough for Villa to avoid the drop.
That would take them to 38 points and leave 18th-placed Sunderland, who have won only five matches all season, requiring three wins from their final five outings.
Last weekend’s convincing 3-0 victory over Manchester United was probably the highlight of what has otherwise been a disappointing season for the Toffees.
They were in control from start to finish against Louis van Gaal’s men as James McCarthy, John Stones and Kevin Mirallas goals saw the Merseysiders record their biggest win over their North-West rivals in 23 years.
The three points took Roberto Martinez’s team into the top half of the table for the first time in 12 months and extended their unbeaten streak to six matches.
They have also kept three clean sheets in a row at Goodison Park.
Midfielder Gareth Barry has revealed a determination in the squad to continue this run until the end of the campaign.
Should they manage to achieve that, eighth remains a plausible target for Everton, who trail Swansea in that position by six points.
Villa possible starting lineup: Guzan; Bacuna, Okore, Vlaar, Richardson; N’Zogbia, Westwood, Cleverley, Delph; Grealish, Benteke.
Everton possible starting lineup: Howard; Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Baines; McCarthy, Barry, Barkley; Lennon, Mirallas, Lukaku.
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