Everton suffered a huge blow in their pursuit of a European spot finish earlier this month when they lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at Goodison Park, losing out on a much needed three points.
Both teams are now set to meet again in what is a quick turnaround as the Toffees are gearing up for a trip to the Midlands on Thursday in their upcoming top flight clash.
Ex-Everton star Ball feels the Villa Park encounter is a massive opportunity for Everton to exact revenge on Aston Villa, under whom they suffered a demoralising loss.
Ball explained that playing Aston Villa in a fortnight’s time could massively benefit Everton as they will be familiar with the opposition and their style of play.
“We’ve got a massive opportunity to get payback here though”, Ball wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.
“It’s a quick turnaround, which will be a massive help.
“I remember it happened to me a few times in my career.
“Your opposition player is fresh in your mind, you know what they’re all about. You know where you need to improve, or where you can hurt them.
“It’s fresh before the game that when you’re thinking about certain runs and movements, you know the outcome of it – rather than finding this out 20 or 30 minutes into the game.
“We came off the pitch really gutted last time out against Aston Villa, but this is a huge chance now to put that right.”
Everton are currently eighth in the standings and will be determined to get maximum points from their remaining four games to close the gap on the top six.
