ASTON VILLA host Everton on Thursday in the Premier League. Daniel McCulloch (@DMcCulloch1984) shares his favourite fancies.
Aston Villa vs Everton | Thursday 13th May 2021, 18:00 | Sky Sports
These two sides face each other for the second time this month and I will be placing a similar bet and hoping for a better result. That bet is BTTS No at 11/8 with SkyBet.
To date this season, just 18 of Everton’s 34 games saw both sides oblige and just 16 of Villa’s. That combines for 34/68 (exactly half), which suggests odds of around Evens would be fair. 11/8 looks huge to me, especially when you factor in Everton’s recent results, the importance of the game for The Toffees and the attacking players Villa are missing.
Eight of Everton’s last 12 domestic matches have seen at least one side fail to oblige, with a 1-0 result (either way) occurring on four of those occasions. Last time out against West Ham, a rival for a top four position, Everton won by a single goal to nil and having scored after 24 minutes themselves, they did not allow their opponents to have a shot on target.
From Villa’s side, surprisingly their last five matches have seen both sides oblige, but as already mentioned, fewer than half their games all season have seen this occur and I think this is just a case of variance. Dean Smith’s side are also missing striker Ollie Watkins who was sent off against Manchester United at the weekend.
Watkins has scored 15 times for Villa all season and will be sorely missed given that he will be replaced by either Wesley, who has been out injured for over a year, or Keinan Davis, who has one Premier League goal in 29 appearances for Villa. While most of those were from the bench, he is still not of the quality of Watkins, which will surely make the West Midlands side less potent. Jack Grealish is only fit enough for the bench so that does not change my thinking and I am happy to make this my sole bet.
I did looks at the likes of Allan and Matty Cash in the shown a card market but referee Martin Atkinson is comparatively shy when it comes to cautioning players so I will avoid those options on this occasion.
Best Bets
Aston Villa vs Everton – Both Teams To Score ‘No’ (11/8 SkyBet)
