Michael Ball encourages Everton not to drop level v Aston Villa
Former Everton defender Michael Ball hopes the Toffees don’t let down their guard against Aston Villa on Thursday, despite the absence of Ollie Watkins.
The Villans’ primary goalscorer was sent off against Manchester United last weekend and is set to miss the clash against Everton, marking the first time Villa have played in the Premier League this season without Watkins leading the line.
Watkins scored in the reverse fixture at Goodison Park earlier this month, however Dean Smith will now be forced to turn to the lesser seen Keinan Davis up front.
Speaking in his column for the Liverpool Echo, Ball has encouraged Everton to continue performing at the appropriate level to ensure they get revenge on the Midlands club.
The pundit said: “The defeat against West Ham [in January] was probably the beginning of Everton’s downfall this season, but we’ve got revenge for that now.
“We have the opportunity to do that again against Aston Villa now. It was hugely disappointing at Goodison.
“They’re going to be without their main striker, but that doesn’t mean you lower your levels at all. We’ve still got to go out and earn that result.
“We’ve got a massive opportunity to get payback here though. It’s a quick turnaround, which will be a massive help. Your opposition player is fresh in your mind, you know what they’re all about. You know where you need to improve, or where you can hurt them.
“It’s fresh before the game that when you’re thinking about certain runs and movements, you know the outcome of it – rather than finding this out 20 or 30 minutes into the game.
“We came off the pitch really gutted last time out against Aston Villa, but this is a huge chance now to put that right.”
Another huge opportunity
Having thrown points away against Aston Villa earlier this month with an underwhelming performance at Goodison Park, Everton redeemed themselves after taking all of the spoils from the London Stadium last weekend.
Now they simply must maintain that level if they harbour any hope of qualifying for Europe, else the club will be forced to wait yet again until they can return to continental competition.
Everton have been handed such a huge opportunity this season but disappointing results against beatable teams have time and time again seen the fans let down, and the Blues need to move past it now.
Carlo Ancelotti has barely any injuries to be concerned about, leaving him with plenty of options to choose from, and Villa are without their talisman which should prove to be detrimental to the way they play.
It all comes down to the attitude of Everton’s players and whether they’re up to the task. We’ll have our fingers crossed.
In other Everton news, Everton have been handed a major boost ahead of their Premier League clash with Aston Villa.
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