Everton stumbled over Chelsea in the last round of the championship, losing to the pensioners in a principled confrontation with a score of 0:2. And they lost in the case. The Blues looked better with a score 9:1 on shots on target. With this defeat the “butterscotch” ended the winning streak in the championship, which was three matches in a row. During this segment Carlo Ancelotti’s charges managed to defeat Liverpool (2:0), Southampton (1:0) and West Bromwich (1:0). In the standings Everton continues to be in the sixth place. The team has 46 points and is only four points behind its competitors from the top four. At the same time, the Liverpool club has one more game in reserve. At home Everton are playing a little worse than away. Only in the previous home game with Southampton the “toffee” managed to interrupt the losing streak, which consisted of five meetings in a row, with a 1:0 victory. The Merseysiders earned only one point, having played in a draw with Leicester (1:1). In other matches for this segment the “butterscotch” lost at home to West Ham (0:1), Newcastle (0:2), Fulham (0:2) and Manchester City (1:3). Hosts have the following personnel losses: midfielders Abdoulaye Ducourt, Fabian Delph and Jean-Philippe Gbamen will definitely not play due to injuries. Doubtful are Yerri Mina, James Rodriguez, Seamus Coleman and Robin Olsen.
The Birmingham club has also slowed down in recent rounds. In the last five matches in the Premier League, Aston Villa managed to beat only Leeds with a score of 1:0. In two more matches, they lost to Leicester (1:2) and Sheffield United (0:1) and also ended in a draw with Brighton (0:0) and Wolverhampton (0:0). As you can see, rivals are of different levels, which allows us to speak about the instability of Villan. Problems in the attack are especially visible, because during this segment Dean Smith’s wards scored only two goals. Birminghamians or the number of applicants for European Cup tickets are gradually falling into the middle of the standings. At the moment, Aston Villa has settled in ninth position and is already eight points behind the top 5 teams. Compared to the first half of the championship, Dean Smith’s charges are much weaker on the road. In the last eight away games, they achieved only two victories and in addition to rivals from the top four, they managed to lose to teams from the survival group. Aston Villa has only one loss. Team captain Jack Grealish will miss the match. Courtney House and Wesley are close to returning. Their participation in the duel is questionable.
