With a new season underway, Everton hope to keep their spirits high and continue their streak of not getting relegated, while Brighton hope to cultivate new players that could benefit veterans in a hunt for the top 8 position. Check out Everton vs Brighton starting lineups,standings, match preview, head to head record and predictions.
Everton vs Brighton Preview
Everton FC
One of the most historic teams of all-time in Everton are only one team from six to not get relegated from Premier League action. Trying to keep up their name, their players are ready for a steady improvement that could move them in the top 10 after a couple years. With scoring being a major issue, Abdoulaye Doucoure is their main scorer and hopes to continue turning into a world-wide known figure heading into his prime.
After scoring 7 goals last season, a ton of offense came from his way alongside a much younger rising star in Dwight McNeil. During the season McNeil scored 3 times as well while assisting on 6 and even added 44 tackles defensively.
With another strong year from him, their strongest forward in Dominic Calvert-Lewin should definitely score over 10 goals next year after scoring a total of 7 in an up and down season for him. With this team being the strongest defensively, their very athletic backline include James Tarkowski, 82 clearances, who showed tremendous promise with his jumping ability to deflect shots.
Having him with the young Jarrad Brathwaite, 55 clearances, adds a lot of pressure on the opposing backline to defend with the ball mostly there. 38-year old legend Ashley Young continues to be a dominating presence with over 60% of tackles won and adds more to a group to strengthen their strengths.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Meanwhile, Brighton are hoping to get most of their main players back after some tragic injuries last year and become that 6th-8th placed team range they were. Up front, their main leader Joao Pedro continued being a creative scorer without the ball and someone who could strike from wings.
As someone who scored 9 goals, him and Danny Welbeck, 5 goals, will have to create the most opportunities with the young Irish star Evan Ferguson ruled out. With Simon Adingra, 6 goals, as a potential option off the bench his fresh energy can help win all the one on one battles and lead to many chances on goal. A 21-year old piece that proves to be the future with Ferguson, there is a shot for him to continue coming off the bench and scoring like a normal starter.
The main reason for Brigthon’s fall off defensively was the loss of Bart Verbruggen who was really a top notch keeper during the first half of last season. Having a 72.5% save rate, his replacement in the new starter Jason Steele will have to improve on that 58% save rate which starts with a current attack like Everton.
With Pascal Grob, 9 assists and 70 tackles, alongside Simon Adingra, 45 tackles, these two midfielders give great options that can drop back and continuously help Lewis Dunk or Igor to create a wall. The effect will lead to the ball being more in the hands of strikers who don’t have to always play under pressure knowing they will be down the whole match.
Everton vs Brighton Lineups
Everton Lineup – Jordan Pickford (Goalkeeper), Vitaliy Mykolkenko, Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, Ashley Young(Defenders), Dwight McNeil, Idrissa Gueye, Tim Iroegbunam, Jack Harrison, Abdoulaye Doucoure(Midfielders), Dominic Calvert-Lewin(Forward)
Injuries – Jarrad Brathwaite(Other), Seamus Coleman(Other), James Garner(Other), Nathan Patterson(Hamstring)
Brighton Lineup – Jason Steele (Goalkeeper), Valentin Barco, Igor, Lewis Dunk, Joel Veltman(Defenders), Carlos Baleba, Mats Wieffer, Kaoru Mitoma, Joao Pedro, Yankuba Minteh(Midfielders), Danny Welbeck(Forward)
Injuries – Evan Ferguson (Ankle), Solly March(Knee), Pervis Estupinan (Ankle), Bart Verbruggen (Other)
Everton vs Brighton Standings
Everton Record
With the Everton squad losing 10 points due to breaking rules, they finished with 40 and number 15 on this table. Having a top 5 defense with just 51 goals allowed, the team that should have been 10 was affected even more with having bottom three scoring production. A side that only finished 40 goals ended up with a -11 differential, they really picked it up in their final 5 matches by scoring 6 times and losing just once.
Brighton Record
Brighton, they ended up 11th on the table and ended on a tough streak that caused them to drop 3 of their final 5 matches. With a middle of the pack offense, 55 goals scored, and defense, 62 allowed, this side ended with a league average differential of about -7. Trying to really pick it up from where they were midseason last year, Brighton are slowly working on making the unit be able to score more than the 4 goals in 5 games that they ended with last year.
Everton vs Brighton H2H Record
Two teams that haven’t played very much against each other, their previous 25 matches have been tight between each other. Although Everton currently owns a 11 to 8 lead in victories with 6 draws, Brighton have been winless 4 of the last 5 times in this head to head. Being able to score 10 goals each in these meetings, both have shown the prospect of this being a stronger rivalry for future times.
Everton vs Brighton Predictions
As two defensive teams battle out, check out which player is likely to score a goal in this encounter and also the probable score outline and match outcome.
Who is likely to score goals
With Everton continuing with a potentially new strategy this season, they will expect Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 4 goals in final 10 games, and Abdoulaye Doucoure, goal in crunch time against Sheffield United, to lead from the front by creating great scoring opportunities.
Brighton should expect Joao Pedro, goal plus assist in final 3 games, and Simon Adingra to come off the bench for purposes of creating pressure on the opposing backline.
Match Prediction
As Everton open up their new year in their own ground, it could help them be motivated to get the ball towards Dominic Calvert-Lewin throughout the game. But, looking at both sides, if Brighton takes proper care on the defensive end with Lewis Dunk causing turnovers it will lead to more chances for their side as the more technically sound Joao Pedro or Kaoru Mitoma will dribble it forward.
Although this game won’t be a blow due to Everton’s defense, a tightly contested game would favor Brighton’s offense from past experiences and more scoring threats.
Our final prediction – Brighton win 2-1.
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