Mark Lawrenson believes Everton might be approaching their game against Aston Villa with overconfidence and has predicted a home defeat.
The Toffees have won two out of three since Sean Dyche took charge, with both victories at home, which has lifted the club out of the relegation zone and improved the prospects for the season.
But the former Liverpool defender thinks that upturn in form might have gone to the heads around Goodison Park and has backed the visitors to pick up a 2-1 win despite losing their last three in succession.
In his Paddy Power predictions this week Lawrenson said: “Aston Villa were unlucky in all honesty against Arsenal, I thought they looked really good. Everton had a big, big win over Leeds and Sean Dyche has clearly got them at it straight away.
“I have this little feeling that Everton might be thinking they’ll roll Villa over but Unai Emery will be desperate to get back on track so I’m going to go for an away win.”
If the first wins since 22 October have created a complacency problem at this club then there are bigger things to worry about than just the upcoming match.
Dyche hardly seems like the type of character to get carried away with a couple of good results, or to let his squad do the same.
So when Villa come to Goodison on Saturday (25 February) it should be a very similar game plan from the former Burnley boss as downed Arsenal and Leeds.
The pressure might have eased with the six points, which were undoubtedly very welcome, but Southampton appear to be on the up after getting rid of Nathan Jones, and Leeds have finally appointed a new manager in Javi Gracia so might be set to rebound themselves.
It only takes a bad week or two for Everton to find themselves right back in trouble, and Villa are the sort of opponents who could go either way.
The Villans themselves enjoyed a noticeable revival when Emery took over from Steven Gerrard, and while they are in poor form currently after a rough run they can cause problems.
But Dyche has reminded the Toffees how to win at home, and if they continue to be hard to beat at the back, with Jordan Pickford and his new contract in goal, they can then search for a way to nick a goal, possibly even via an attacking player.
