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2021/22 English Premier League
Matchday 23
Everton v Aston Villa
Goodison Park
Liverpool, England
Saturday, 22 January 2022
Kick-off is at 13h30
Aston Villa will be looking to inflict more misery on a managerless Everton when they clash in the
Premier League at Goodison Park on January 22.
The Toffees sacked Rafael Benitez on January 16 in the wake of their 2-1 defeat at Norwich the previous day, bringing an end to his underwhelming six-month tenure at the club.
The Spaniard had recorded just five wins from his 19 league matches at the helm and departed with the team sitting 16th in the table on 19 points, just six above the relegation zone.
The Merseysiders have gone four games without a win since beating Arsenal 2-1 at home on December 6. Their last clean sheet was back on November 7 in a goalless draw with Tottenham.
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Benitez claimed that injuries and finances played a role in the team's poor run of form during the first half of the season.
"We knew it wouldn't be easy, and that it was a big challenge, both emotionally and in terms of sport," he wrote on his official website.
"My love for this city, for Merseyside and its people, made me accept this challenge, but it is only when you are inside that you realise the magnitude of the task.
"From the very first day, my staff and myself worked as we always do, with commitment and full dedication, we didn't only have to get results, but we also had to win over people's hearts.
"However, the financial situation and then the injuries that followed made things even harder. I am convinced that we would have been better once the injured players were back and with the arrival of the new signings."
Steven Gerrard's side will be brimming with confidence after coming from two goals down to rescue a 2-2 draw against Manchester United at Villa Park on January 15.
The stalemate came on the back of successive losses to Chelsea (3-1) and Brentford (2-1), and took Villa up to 13th place on 23 points.
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Gerrard praised the character of his players to battle back for a point in the second half and felt they might have won the game if performances were better in the first stanza.
"I think it was a game of two halves as far as we're concerned," he told VillaTV. "I thought we were second best first half, certainly for the first 25 minutes.
"I thought we were excellent second half for the majority of it. We conceded and we were a little bit hard done by, I thought it was a little bit against the run of play because we improved.
"And at 2-0 down I needed the players to show amazing character, amazing courage; we did and we finished ever so strong. If we would have got the second-half performance over 90 minutes I believe we would have won the game."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Everton - 0
Aston Villa - 3
Draws - 2
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