Everton will be hoping to bounce back from their opening day defeat with a positive result this weekend, as they take on Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Toffees fell to a 1-0 opening day defeat against Chelsea at Goodison Park last weekend, with a penalty from Jorginho settling the contest, but Frank Lampard has strengthened his side in two key areas since then. Defender Conor Coady and midfielder Amadou Onana have joined the club this week from Wolves and Lille respectively, and both are likely to start against Villa.
Salomon Rondon has served his suspension and is likely to start on Saturday, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes, Ben Godfrey and Andros Townsend still missing through injury. Anthony Gordon, Demarai Gray, Alex Iwobi and Dele Alli are all in contention to join Rondon in attack.
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So, what will the score be this weekend between Aston Villa and Everton? To find out, we simulated the game to get a score prediction and this is what happened.
Aston Villa vs Everton score predicted by simulation
To run this simulation, we used FIFA 22, updating the squads with the latest transfers made in this window. Both sides lined up in their 2021/22 kits as FIFA 22 does not provide the 2022/23 ones.
We predict that Villa could set up in a 4-3-2-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Carlos, Digne; McGinn, Kamara, Luiz; Buendia, Coutinho; Watkins
We predict that the Toffees could set up in a 3-4-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Pickford; Tarkowski, Holgate, Coady; Patterson, Doucoure, Iwobi, Mykolenko; McNeil, Rondon, Gordon.
The game started slowly, with both sides lacking quality in the final third. Everton survived a huge scare in the opening 30 minutes when Ollie Watkins missed from close range. A through ball from John McGinn sent Watkins through on goal, and despite being just a couple yards out from goal, the striker blasted his effort off the top of the bar.
It was a lucky escape for the Toffees, who had yet to get going. Everton then had their best chance of the half just before the break. A cross into the box from the left saw the ball fall to the feet of Rondon, just inside the box. The striker shifted the ball across to Anthony Gordon, but the winger's effort was well saved by Martinez.
Neither side were able to create any great chances in a poor second half, with the game ending 0-0.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Aston Villa 0-0 Everton
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that Everton could struggle to break down a decent Aston Villa defence on Saturday afternoon. The Toffees defended well in the simulation, and a stalemate could prove a good point for Lampard's side at the end of the season, but will be hoping for their first win of the campaign.
What do you think the score will be between Everton and Chelsea on Saturday? Let us know in the comments!
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