Everton fell to a 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa in their first away game of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign. 

The home side opened the scoring inside 20 minutes through John McGinn following a well-worked move down Everton's left side. Jordan Pickford then conceded a penalty minutes later, with Douglas Luiz dispatching from 12 yards after the Blues goalkeeper had been adjudged to have fouled Ollie Watkins inside the six-yard box. 

A defensive Everton mistake early in the second period gifted the hosts the opportunity to grab their third through Leon Bailey and then Dyche's side were again architects of their own downfall late on when Jhon Durán latched onto a sloppy Blues throw-in to run through, score Villa's fourth, and condemn the Blues to their second defeat of the season. 

Buoyed by a raucous atmosphere from the home fans, Villa started the game brightly and piled some early pressure on the Everton defence. 

The Toffees initially defended well and the game settled into a familiar pattern of Emery's side seeing plenty of the ball but struggling to break down the visitors. 

That was until the 18th minute, when Bailey weaved his way down Everton's left before crossing into the penalty area from the byline for McGinn, who volleyed the ball home from close range. 

Minutes later the hosts doubled their advantage. Pickford was deemed to have made contact with Watkins inside the penalty area after he attempted to tap home a knockdown inside the six-yard box. Luiz fired the resulting penalty into the bottom left corner of the Everton No.1's goal. 

With their tails up, Villa started to cause more problems with Diaby next to go close. He met a cross to drill a low shot from the edge of the box that forced a tidy save from Pickford. 

The Blues' stop-stopper then thwarted Diaby again just as the game approached the half-hour mark. The Villa attacker met a deep cross to volley a vicious strike goalwards but Pickford matched the quality of the effort with a fine save. 

Danjuma joined the action seven minutes before half-time in place of Calvert-Lewin who collided with goalkeeper Martinez early in the half. 

The substitute came up with Everton's best chance of the opening period. He combined well with Patterson to latch onto a through ball from the Scottish international, and although the angle was tight, Danjuma was able to unleash a ferocious shot toward goal that was well saved by Martinez. 

Lewis Dobbin replaced Idrissa Gana Gueye at the break, and Neal Maupay joined him soon after in place of Alex Iwobi. Yet, neither had the opportunity to influence proceedings before Villa grabbed their third. 

A mix-up in the Everton defence allowed Bailey to nip in unmarked and all the attacker had left to do was drill the ball low and hard past Pickford to extend Villa's advantage. 

Everton nearly grabbed a goal back as the game approached the hour mark, as Maupay found himself unchallenged to meet a deep Ashley Young cross, but his volley was well saved by Villa's Martinez. 

The home side added further misery to the Everton camp in the latter stages of the game when Young's throw-in inside the Everton half was intercepted by substitute Durán who drove into the box before slotting past Pickford to cap off a forgettable afternoon for the Blues. 

Everton return to action on Saturday when they take on Wolves at Goodison Park (3pm kick-off BST).