Unai Emery is hoping Aston Villa can channel their competitive spirit once more as they aim for a first home win of the season against Everton.
Villa have so far won both of their away matches against West Ham and Leicester City by a 2-1 scoreline, digging deep to get their six points on the board.
However, they struggled at home against Arsenal, losing 2-0 despite having more attempts and creating a higher expected goals tally.
And despite Everton's recent struggles, Emery expects them to have to fight for the three points when they face off at Villa Park.
"Every game is difficult, but we compete," Emery said. "We did against Arsenal as well. We compete really well.
"Competitive is what we want to be, but we always want to improve and try to perform quality and try to be very demanding in our analysis of ourselves, and I'm happy with how they respond on the pitch."
Meanwhile, Everton are yet to get a point on the board after they began their season with three consecutive defeats.
They currently prop up the table, having conceded 10 goals and scored just two.
New signing Tim Iroegbunam, who joined the Toffees from Villa in the transfer window, has played every minute of the campaign so far and is hopeful he can help to get the team back on track.
"Obviously, the couple of results we've had in the league so far have been disappointing but, from a personal point of view, I'm pleased with how it's been going," he said.
"I knew that if I did well in pre-season that I could have a chance to play straight away. The fact that it's happened for me is promising, but there's lots to do."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Aston Villa – Jhon Duran
Despite only starting three Premier League games in his career, Jhon Duran has scored seven goals in the competition, with six of these coming as a substitute.
His average of 96 minutes per goal is the best of any Villa player to score 3+ times for the club in the Premier League.
Everton – Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has made 97 off-the-ball runs in the Premier League this season, the most of any player, with 44 of these being targeted, also a league-high.
The striker has either scored (five) or assisted (two) seven of the Toffees' last 12 league goals.
MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN
Since their return to the Premier League in 2019, Villa have remained unbeaten in all 10 of their league meetings with Everton (W7 D3), keeping seven clean sheets and conceding just three goals in that run.
Following a run of 15 successive home league wins from March to December 2023, Villa have since won just four of their last 12 Premier League games at Villa Park (D4 L4), losing their only such match this season 0-2 to Arsenal. Only in 2013-14 have the Villans lost both of their first two home matches of a Premier League campaign.
Meanwhile, Everton have lost eight of their last 10 top-flight games that have immediately followed an international break (W1 D1), including all four such matches last season. Villa, meanwhile, have won each of their last five league matches immediately following an international break.
Everton, along with Southampton, are one of two sides to lose all three of their Premier League games so far this season. Only in 1926-27 (five) and 1958-59 (six) have the Toffees ever had a longer losing run from the beginning of a league campaign.
Dyche's men are currently on a torrid run, having lost each of their last four Premier League games; not since October 2005, under David Moyes, have the Toffees lost five in a row in the competition (a run of six).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Aston Villa – 58.6%
Draw – 21.5%
Everton – 19.8%
Celtic 3-1 RB Leipzig: Kuhn double inspires Hoops to Champions League fightback
Celtic's Nicolas Kuhn scored twice as the Bhoys fought back to clinch an impressive 3-1 victory over RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Coming off a goalless draw at Atalanta on matchday three, Celtic recorded their second home win in the Champions League this season, moving up to 13th in the standings on seven points.
They had to do things the hard way, falling behind to Christoph Baumgartner's close-range header after a corner came off Cameron Carter-Vickers in the 23rd minute.
However, Kuhn levelled in the 35th minute with a superb curling effort from the edge of the box, then tapped into an open net for his brace shortly before half-time.
Benjamin Sesko and Baumgartner went close to equalising after the break but Celtic's birthday boy, 38-year-old goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, pulled off a couple of fine saves before Reo Hatate sealed victory with a close-range finish in the 72nd minute.
Leipzig's wait for a first point in the Champions League this campaign continues, with their chances of reaching the knockout stages fading after four defeats in as many games.
Data Debrief: Celtic flying high
Celtic may have been humiliated in a 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on matchday two, but that was a mere blip in what has so far been an impressive European campaign.
Their total of seven points is already their most in a Champions League campaign since 2012-13, when they collected 10, while they last netted more goals (currently nine) in a Champions League/European Cup campaign in 1977-78 (13).
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Sturm Graz: Malen late show extends Champions League home record
Donyell Malen netted an 85th minute winner to hand Borussia Dortmund a narrow 1-0 victory over winless Sturm Graz in the Champions League on Tuesday.
A dominant showing from Nuri Sahin's side made it three wins from four games so far in the competition, moving them up to fourth in the new 36-team league.
Dortmund started brightly at the Westfalenstadion but were unable to find a breakthrough, with Marcel Sabitzer, Maximilian Beier and Serhou Guirassy going close.
They recorded 13 shots in the first half, their most in the opening 45 minutes of a Champions League match without scoring since Opta recorded this data (since 2003-04).
But Sturm Graz offered a threat on the break after the interval, with Jusuf Gazibegovic curling an effort narrowly wide before Mika Biereth missed a header from close range.
However, Dortmund left it late to seal the win as Malen pounced on Emanuel Aiwu's loose pass before being sent through by Guirassy, with the Dutchman rattling the ball beyond
Kjell Scherpen to seal another Champions League home win.
Data Debrief: Home comforts
While Sahin has come under fire for Dortmund's displays away from home, there is no arguing with his record at the Westfalenstadion.
He became the first Dortmund coach since the Bundesliga was founded to win each of his first seven home matches in charge (all competitions), while BVB are now unbeaten in 13 consecutive Champions League home games (W9 D4) - an extended club record.
Malen’s winner was timed at 84:56, Dortmund’s latest winning goal in a Champions League match since Kevin Groskreutz netted against Marseille in December 2013.
Lille 1-1 Juventus: French side's resistance broken after second-half penalty
Lille held firm to hold Juventus to a 1-1 draw at home on Tuesday in the Champions League, extending their unbeaten run to nine matches.
Jonathan David had fired the French club ahead in the first half, before Dusan Vlahovic scored a second-half penalty to level things up and leave both sides on seven points after four matches.
Things didn't start well for the home side, with Teun Koopmeiners thinking he had scored the opener for Juventus only for it to be disallowed for offside.
David put Lille ahead just three minutes later with their first chance of note in the match. The Canadian turned home to convert from a slick counter-attacking move.
Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier had to be on form to keep the home side ahead before half-time, sensationally saving a Vlahovic half-volley 10 minutes before the break. Koopmeiners, meanwhile, had another effort chalked off in the 42nd minute.
Juventus upped the pressure in the second half, with Chevalier also upping things and pulling off two impressive saves in quick succession.
But ultimately, the Lille resistance was broken by a Vlahovic penalty on the hour after Francisco Conceicao had been fouled by Benjamin Andre.
The result leaves Juventus 10th and Lille 12th in the Champions League table.
Data debrief: Lille looking good for qualification
After drawing 1-1, Lille are unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions and three matches in the Champions League.
The French side had beaten Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in back-to-back European games.
They now have a seven-point buffer between themselves and the bottom eight in the league table.
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