Aston Villa vs. Everton CONFIRMED lineups and open thread

It's a little hard to be quite as optimistic about this match as we were on this week's Holtecast now that we know Aston Villa will be without Fabian Delph. That news also puts a bit of a damper on the coming string of easier matches in the near future, but perhaps that's looking too far forward.

Even without Delph, Villa have an excellent chance of getting at least a point from this trip. Roberto Martinez' Everton squad have been letting goals in as if that were the point of the sport and with Christian Benteke around, it would be crazy to think that Villa won't score for the first time since the Liverpool match. Heck, given the way the season has gone for Everton (including losses to Crystal Palace and Swansea) there's every reason to think that Villa could sneak away with all three. So join us for the match! We've got lineups right here, and an open match thread in the comments below. UTV!

Aston Villa starting XI

Brad Guzan; Alan Hutton, Ron Vlaar, Nathan Baker, Aly Cissokho; Tom Cleverley, Ashley Westwood, Kieran Richardson; Charles N'Zogbia, Christian Benteke, Gabby Agbonlahor

Aston Villa bench

Shay Given, Joe Cole, Darren Bent, Carlos Sánchez, Ciaran Clark, Matt Lowton, Andi Weimann.

Everton starting XI

Tim Howard; Seamus Coleman, Phil Jagielka, Antolín Alcaraz, Leighton Baines; James McCarthy, Gareth Barry; Leon Osman, Steven Naismith, Ross Barkley; Romelu Lukaku

Everton bench

Steven Pienaar, Samuel Eto'o, Tony Hibbert, Aidan McGeady, Darren Gibson, Joel Robles, Mohammed Besic.