{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
View: Aston Villa and Everton set to continue illustrious fixture history in the Premier League this weekend
This weekend’s Premier League encounter between Aston Villa and Everton at Goodison Park is set to be the 210th meeting between the two clubs – the most played fixture in English Football League history.
Unai Emery’s men travel to Merseyside on Saturday (25 February) as they look to overturn a run of three defeats on the bounce against Sean Dyche’s side.
Although Emery will likely be well-versed in recent meetings between the two sides in an attempt to gain any extra advantage he can, he will probably not know the wider historical context of this classic fixture.
Villa and Everton were among the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888, with the Merseyside club racking up an impressive 120 seasons in the top flight from a possible 124, while Villa sitting not far behind with 109 campaigns among the elite.
As revealed by Aston Villa Statto on Twitter (Thursday 23 February), the two sides have met 209 times over their history, with Villa winning 78 times, Everton claiming 76 victories and the spoils being shared on 55 occasions.
The pair first met each other on September 22, 1888, when a crowd of 4,000 fans watched Villa climb above their opponents into second place in the league with a 2-1 home win. Meanwhile, the most recent meeting was Villa’s 2-1 victory back in August.
As well as being the EFL’s most played, it is also the fixture that has seen the most goals scored – with the net being found a total of 645 times.
Emery’s side would need to win by a four-goal margin at the weekend to overtake the Toffees in the goal tally stats, with the Villans scoring 321 and their Merseyside opponents a total of 324.
Supporters will be well aware of some of the blockbuster meetings in the past, with a 3-2 win for Villa in 2008, a six-goal draw the following season, and a 4-0 Boxing Day drubbing for Everton in 2005 some of the more entertaining meetings that have gone down in the history books.
In other Aston Villa news, the club want to reunite with a former player for a fee in excess of £40million in the summer.