Everton vs Brentford

Relegation-threatened Everton will be looking to bolster their hopes of securing Premier League survival when they take on Brentford at Goodison Park.

Despite picking up seven points in his six Premier League games in charge of Everton (W2, D1, L3), new boss Sean Dyche has yet to guide the ‘Toffees’ outside the relegation zone. Both Dyche’s league wins at the helm of the Merseyside strugglers have come at Goodison via an identical 1-0 scoreline, highlighting the importance of scoring first. Indeed, each of Everton’s four home league triumphs this season have come ‘to nil,’ while they’ve lost seven of their eight matches at Goodison when conceding at least once (D1). Brentford’s visit doesn’t bode well for the hosts’ bid to escape the bottom three, as they’ve gone winless in all three previous Premier League H2Hs (D1, L2), including a ‘goal-friendly’ 3-2 defeat in this corresponding fixture last season.

On the other hand, visiting Brentford came out on top of last weekend’s topsy-turvy home contest against Fulham, running out 3-2 victors to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 12 matches (W6, D6). Furthermore, Thomas Frank’s men head into this match-up riding on the club’s second-best unbeaten away streak in the top flight (W2, D3), though their last two league matches on hostile turf have ended level. Therefore, a historic European finish remains well on the cards, with only four points separating them from fifth-placed Liverpool at the beginning of this round. Yet, after scoring precisely twice on three consecutive Premier League travels down the final stretch of 2022, the ‘Bees’ have netted just once in their two away league fixtures this calendar year.