Everton vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Goodison Park is the venue as Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion go head-to-head in a mid-table Premier League clash.

Everton waved goodbye to 2021 with a promising 1-1 draw with Chelsea in mid-December as a Covid-19 outbreak forced the postponement of their post-Christmas fixtures against Burnley and Newcastle United. Worryingly, though, the ‘Toffees’ have only won one of their last 11 Premier League outings (D3, L7), falling to 15th in the standings. Though there’s still no reason for panic, Rafael Benitez will be keen to fashion his side’s second-half-of-the-season comeback starting this weekend. Brighton’s visit to Goodison sounds like a prime opportunity to launch a revival, as Everton have never lost to this opposition across their previous nine competitive H2Hs on home turf (W7, D2), winning all four Premier League clashes here. The Merseyside outfit came from behind to beat Arsenal in their most recent top-flight game here and could make it back-to-back home league wins in a row for the first time since September.

On the other hand, Brighton notched up a late equalizer to rescue a 1-1 draw at Chelsea in their final fixture of 2021, as their form wobble continues to push them down the Premier League table. The ‘Seagulls’ have only won one of their last 13 league games (D9, L3), killing ‘entertainment’ in the process. Indeed, just two of those 13 matches have featured over 2.5 total goals, with Brighton scoring one or less 11 times in that sequence. Graham Potter’s men have established themselves as the ‘stalemate kings’ away from home this season, with 66.66% of their Premier League travels so far ending as a draw (6/9), including the last three in a row. Adding to a long list of worries, Brighton have won just two of their 17 Premier League fixtures in the month of January (D7, L8).