EPL: Gerrard, Lampard begin managerial battle

Aston Villa vs. Everton
Venue: Villa Park
Kick off: 12:30PM

Aston Villa and Everton meet in the Premier League this afternoon as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard square off for the first time in their managerial careers.

Both clubs started the campaign with a defeat, Villa going down 2-0 at Bournemouth before Everton succumbed to a 1-0 scoreline against Chelsea.

Throughout their esteemed playing careers, Gerrard squared off on 34 occasions, Lampard getting the better of his England teammate with 16 wins compared to 11 for Gerrard.

However, the slate has been wiped clean ahead of this contest, both managers under pressure to deliver at their respective clubs after being provided with freedom in the transfer market to make the necessary alterations to their squads.

From Gerrard’s perspective, he would have been delighted to get Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos through the door soon after the end of last season, while securing the services of Philippe Coutinho on a permanent basis was another coup for the West Midlands outfit.

Nevertheless, the trio were powerless to prevent Villa losing out 2-0 to newly-promoted Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, the goals coming at either end of the game.

At a time when there also appears to be issues between Gerrard and former captain Tyrone Mings behind the scenes, this feels like a fixture where Villa need to perform to prevent further criticism heading in the way of their head coach.

As it stands, everything feels far more positive at Goodison Park, even with Everton having only narrowly avoided relegation last season and started this one with a defeat.

The Toffees missed the presence of a recognised forward against Chelsea and that situation is only improved this week by the return from suspension of backup striker Salomon Rondon.

However, Lampard could be relatively satisfied with his team’s performance against his former side, Everton only losing out to a Jorginho penalty in a game where they suffered two injuries to their defenders.

Since that setback, Conor Coady and Amadou Onana have arrived from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Lille respectively, the duo bringing their own expectation through experience and potential.

While it may be asking too much for the pair to be overly influential today after signing on Monday and Tuesday respectively, Lampard needs all of his team to step up in a highly-anticipated encounter.

Aston Villa possible XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Carlos, Dign, McGinn, Kamara, Ramsey, Buendia, Watkins, Coutinho.

Everton possible XI: Pickford, Holgate, Coady, Tarkowski, Patterson, Doucoure, Iwobi, Mykolenko, Gordon, Rondon, McNeil.