Aston Villa continue their battle for Premier League survival when they play host to Everton - one of the form sides in the division - on Saturday.
The FA Cup finalists are two points above the relegation zone with four games of their season remaining, the first of which is the visit of an Everton side that is unbeaten in six games.
Aston Villa
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Tim Sherwood was enjoying a rather good April until this week. The former Tottenham Hotspur boss had made a satisfying and triumphant return to White Hart Lane and led Villa into the FA Cup final with victory over Liverpool at Wembley.
However, results have not gone for the Villans over the last few days. Either side of them being beaten late by Manchester City, they saw Leicester catch up with them from behind and Hull City jump above them in the table.
Things could have concluded very differently at the Etihad Stadium, where Villa suffered a 3-2 defeat after coming from two goals down. With the scores at 2-2 and Villa in the ascendancy, Sherwood feels that they were denied a stonewall penalty when Joe Hart felled Christian Benteke.
The offside flag was incorrectly raised against the Belgian striker, and City scored the winner through Fernandinho minutes later at the other end to leave Villa only two places and two points clear of safety.
Their precarious position should be made more comforting by the fact that three of their last four games are at Villa Park, but the Claret and Blues have won as few home games as any other Premier League side this season - three.
Two more wins should be enough for Villa to avoid the drop. That would take them to 38 points and leave 18th-placed Sunderland, who have won only five matches all season, requiring three wins from their final five outings.
Recent form: WLLDWL
Recent form (all competitions): LLDWWL
Everton
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Last weekend's convincing 3-0 victory over Manchester United was probably the highlight of what has otherwise been a disappointing season for the Toffees.
They were in control from start to finish against Louis van Gaal's men as James McCarthy, John Stones and Kevin Mirallas goals saw the Merseysiders record their biggest win over their North-West rivals in 23 years.
The three points took Roberto Martinez's team into the top half of the table for the first time in 12 months and extended their unbeaten streak to six matches. They have also kept three clean sheets in a row at Goodison Park.
Midfielder Gareth Barry has revealed a determination in the squad to continue this run until the end of the campaign. Should they manage to achieve that, eighth remains a plausible target for Everton, who trail Swansea in that position by six points.
That would be a reasonable finish for the Toffees, but would not tell the whole story. They would have expected to have been competing for European qualification and yet have not been in the race since week one.
Then again, judging by the effect that the Europa League has had on their league performances this term, Everton fans may be relieved to miss out this year.
Recent form: WWWDWW
Recent form (all competitions): LWWDWW
Team News
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Everton's Bryan Oviedo has been ruled out for the season after sustaining a metatarsal injury in training. The Costa Rican had only managed six league appearances this season because of his broken leg suffered in January 2014.
Darron Gibson, Tony Hibbert and Steven Pienaar are also sidelined, but Martinez would have been unlikely to make major changes regardless. Mirallas may be recalled at the expense of Leon Osman after his goal as a substitute last time out.
Sherwood may also make only one change from the defeat to the soon-to-be former champions, gambling on the match-winning potential of Charles N'Zogbia in midfield and sacrificing the defensive qualities of Carlos Sanchez.
Gabriel Agbonlahor and Alan Hutton may also be in contention depending on the results of their late fitness tests. However, defenders Nathan Baker and Ciaran Clark are both missing and therefore Jores Okore will continue alongside Ron Vlaar.
Goalkeeper Brad Guzan is under increasing pressure from FA Cup hero Shay Given, but will probably keep his place despite his glaring error for the opening goal against City.
Villa possible starting lineup:
Guzan; Bacuna, Okore, Vlaar, Richardson; N'Zogbia, Westwood, Cleverley, Delph; Grealish, Benteke
Everton possible starting lineup:
Howard; Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Baines; McCarthy, Barry, Barkley; Lennon, Mirallas, Lukaku
Head To Head
The Toffees are on a six-match unbeaten run in the league and have also gone eight matches without defeat against their opponents this weekend.
Luke Young was the unlikely Villa hero the last time that the Midlanders beat Everton - a 1-0 victory in August 2010.
Romelu Lukaku has scored in two of Everton's previous three triumphs over Villa, including in October's 3-0 stroll at Goodison.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Villa 2-1 Everton
Everton are in great form but also in mid-table limbo, and fixtures at this point of the season are often won by those who need the points more. That would be Villa, but they may need to play as well as they did against Liverpool at Wembley to complete a Merseyside double.
Joe Fish
