Everton's Clash with Aston Villa Is Already Looking Like a Must-Win

Last season was one full of hope and promise for Everton. As Manchester United flailed under David Moyes, Everton flourished under his successor, Roberto Martinez, who built on and improved the side bequeathed to him.

Martinez not only made them a better side to watch but seemed to dismiss any fears that he would not be able to organise their defence, with only Chelsea and Manchester City conceding fewer goals. He gave chances to youngsters like John Stones and Ross Barkley when one suspects Moyes would've been more conservative.

This season it's a different story altogether. Everton have won just one game, have the worst defensive record in the Premier League and have looked listless at best, hapless at worst in most of their games.

There are a number of factors for their poor performance, not least the number of injuries they have had to contend with. Stones has joined Barkley on the treatment table, while Phil Jagielka missed the start of the season, and Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and Steven Pienaar have all spent time on the sidelines.

Additionally, of those that have stayed fit, key men have not performed as they can. Romelu Lukaku has showed why Jose Mourinho was not sold on his talents, age is catching up with Sylvain Distin and even Tim Howard has not been as reliable as usual. Their fixture list hasn't been kind, either, with games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. Matt Cheetham discussed Everton's woes in more detail elsewhere on Bleacher Report.

The concern for Everton fans must be that this isn't simply the old "second-season syndrome" but that these defensive problems represent a reversion to the mean for Martinez. One of the key concerns before his appointment was that his problems organising the Wigan defence would preclude him from success at a bigger club. Last season appeared to allay those fears, but that may simply have been down to him having better defenders at his disposal in the shape of Jagielka, Stones and Distin, but with at least one of those out and another on the decline, Martinez's old issues at the back could resurface.

The question is where do Everton go from here? Martinez accepts that they are struggling and need to change something, as he told BT Sport after their defeat to Manchester United, via Goal.com:

"

We want more points. We are not hiding from the fact. We feel we have dropped many points but we have played four of the top six teams already.

We are getting sharper and stronger. We need to get a good break now and after we'll try to get the results our performances deserve.

"

The good news is a few things look set to improve. Martinez hopes to have Barkley back by the end of October, as per The Guardian, while Christian Atsu and Muhamed Besic haven't really had a chance to impress yet. The fixture list looks a little kinder, too, with games against Burnley and Sunderland coming in the next month or so.

However, such is their current position that Saturday's game against Aston Villa now starts looking like a must-win. Paul Lambert's side have been better than expected so far this term, but they have lost their last three (admittedly very tough) games, so Everton will view this as a very winnable encounter.

Martinez will certainly hope that a victory comes, otherwise some uncomfortable questions might start to be asked about his methods.