Its do or die for either team. The winner will likely go on to secure the valuable 5th spot and qualify for the UEFA Cup. Everton was in the driving seat but a poor run of form lately coincided with Villa's amazing run have made it a tough call now.

A win for the Toffeemen will be fantastic, a draw is not a good result but also not the end of the world, but a lost and we can kiss Europe goodbye next season.

This is a match we simply cannot afford to lose as we still have to visit Arsenal. However, even with our poor form and Villa being on a high, am confident we can at least get a draw and retain the advantage of getting 5th. Our fate is in our hands and its up to us to prove we are good enough.

No regrets, winner takes all!!!!

Everton 2 Aston Villa 1

2-1 to villa.
i know they have not played the best teams but they are scoring for fun and confidence is high at the minute. would be hard on Everton if they didnt make europe...

I'll go for 2-1 Villa same as Jackpot,Everton to finish outside of the european places would be hilarious

Well, well, well - i have to admit, i'm looking forward to this. Who would've thought Everton would have been in a position to relinquish 5th place, and even more so that Villa would be in a place to snatch it after their spell of awful form.

I think if Everton win this they'll have 5th pretty much sewn up. They'd have to lose both their final games and also Villa win theirs. A Villains victory tips it firmly in their favour, and i'd go as far as to say that if they won on Sunday they themselves would have 5th sewn up (because of the remaining fixtures). A draw would leave things in the balance - Everton would have the 3 point lead but Villa would have the easier games to be played.

It should be a cracker.

Even though Everton have been very poor lately i expect them to make a semi-resurgance and perform better. They have to, so if Moyes has something about him he'll get the players they have available dead up for it. Villa are on a high though, so even at Goodison it'll take a great performance to halt them. I predict it'll just be enough to salvage a point and avoid a beating.

Everton 1-1 Aston Villa.

3-1 Everton

I agree that if Everton win this, they pretty much have fifth place and Europe in the bag, a draw would keep Villa off their backs for the time being and would still be comfortable whereas if Villa take their surging momentum and recent blistering form into this game and come away from Merseyside with three points, then the race is really on for that European Place, and thats not even mentioning Portsmouth. All in all i anticipate a decent game ending in a 2-2 draw.

2-0 Villa....Agbonlahor and Barry for the goals.

Everton have been in hot form lately, I think they'll take it. Bloody good football happening in the upper mid-table once again, I'm looking forward to another edge-of-your-seat nailbiter either way.

A win is a must for us but I can't see us getting it... I noticed a few have said bad form! I put it down to bad luck and injuries. Anyway talking of injuries little Arteta and Osman could be back in time for this game bringing out some class in our midfield again like the way it was before our drop in first team players, well almost.... Since the exit of the uefa cup we've been pretty dump really.

1 - 1

If Arteta and Osman are back I am quite confident we can win... We need to as villa have a VERY easy run in.

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Hav Phun!

Some stats....

Everton v Aston Villa

Head to Head

This is our 93rd home league meeting v Aston Villa, our full record is:

P92 W45 D23 L24 F163 A110

This will be the 186th league meeting between the clubs, making it the most played fixture in English league football history – it is also the 203rd meeting in all competitions. In the league, the teams have won 70 matches apiece.

Our Premier League record against Villa is total sh!te:

--------P W D L
Home 15 6 4 5
Away 16 1 5 10
Total 31 7 9 15

We have lost two and drawn one of the three meetings between the clubs since Martin O’Neill took charge in the summer of 2006. We were beaten 2-0 at Villa Park earlier in the season and the last meeting at Goodison resulted in a 1-0 victory for the Midlands side in October 2006.

Our last win over Villa was by 4-1 in March 2006 at Goodison Park.

This is our 100th home meeting against Villa in all competitions.

The Goals

There have been no post-war hat-tricks in matches between the clubs, the last Everton player to score three goals was Dixie Dean at Villa Park in December 1927.

Andrew Johnson has scored 99 league goals.

The Players

The last player sent-off between the teams was Benito Carbone in the FA Cup at Goodison in March 2000. The last Everton player dismissed was John Collins at Villa Park in August 1999.

It will be Mikel Arteta’s 100th league start for the Blues should he begin on Sunday.

General

Our last seven Premier League matches have yielded just nine goals in total with no side scoring more than once, the Blues have conceded just seven goals in the last 15 league matches

A win or a draw on Sunday will mean we will set new record points mark in the Premier League – at present we are on the same mark – 61 points - as that achieved in 1995-96 and 2004-05

Tim Howard has 14 clean sheets in the league this season – one behind the Premier League record for the club set by Neville Southall in 1995-96. The record in all league seasons is 21 by Gordon West when we won the title in 1969-70.

We are still the only side without a penalty award in the Premier League this season – the last time we went a full campaign without being given a league penalty was 1970-71.

Everton require one more win for 30 victories in 2007-08, a landmark last reached in 1986/87 and if achieved it will only be for only the seventh season in the club’s history.

David Moyes has lost 99 matches as Everton manager.

A great way to end the weekend's football after watching Chelsea/Man United, Birmingham/Liverpool and the Old Firm derby. This could be the best of the lot if Everton really go for it.


Everton Starting Line-up:

24 Howard
18 Neville
4 Yobo
5 Lescott
16 Jagielka
20] Pienaar
21 Osman
26 Carsley
23 Manuel Fernandes
22 Yakubu
8 Johnson

- Substitutes
33 Wessels
2 Hibbert
3 Baines
6 Arteta
28 Anichebe


Aston Villa Starting Line-up:

22 Carson
5 Laursen
4 Mellberg
16 Knight
3 Bouma
6 Barry
20 Reo-Coker
19 Petrov
10 Carew
7 Young
11 Agbonlahor

- Substitutes
13 Taylor
23 Berger
18 Routledge
17 Salifou
9 Harewood


Everton have clawed Arteta back from injury, have an attacker on the bench and are starting 4-4-2... it bodes well from a neutrals perspective.

Commence operation goodison exercise

1-0 Everton Phil Neville 54th minute

Took a hell of a deflection!

nice goal...if you ask me.

How the hell did Andy Johnson ever play for England.

With Sven or McClaren in charge, anything is possible.

Exactly thats why Walcott got into the World Cup squad without ever playing a premier league game and he never even played in a world cup game.