Brighton vs Everton – Premier League Match Preview

Dan Tracey October 15, 2017 Leave a comment 1,959 Views

Super Sunday has a South Coast theme to it today although many Uk based fans will be left scratching their heads as to why this game is not being shown domestically after being moved to this afternoon. Not ideal for Everton fans to be making the long journey from Merseyside but that’s the Premier League for you.

Today sees 16th place play host to 17tha at The AMEX and in fairness the fact that Brighton occupy the former is of no real surprise although of no disrespect either but the fact that Ronald Koeman‘s men are just on the right side of the relegation dotted line will not only be a surprise but also a concern.

That’s because after Everton’s summer spree which saw them spend £150m the performances have nowhere near matched the expectations. Quite simply this is a side that is missing goals after the departure of Romelu Lukaku, they have only found the net on four occasions.

Not only that but only two players have managed to open their accounts for the club. The pair being Wayne Rooney and Oumar Niasse with a brace of goals a piece. But neither of them managed to score before the international break when Burnley left Goodison Park with all three points thanks to Jeff Hendrick’s well crafted winner.

Many felt that the Burnley fixture would be the one that would see them turn the corner after previously beating Bournemouth but it was a case of one step forward and two steps back for The Toffees as this team has had a start to the campaign to definitely forget.

Both teams might be a precarious position but a win could see either side move into the top half of the Premier League table by the end of the afternoon. Brighton have picked up two wins at home and will look to make it a third against a Everton side which seems to be incredibly disjointed at present.

For Brighton the key for them is going to be picking up as many home wins as possible and making The AMEX a fortress. Chris Hughton will look at what Burnley did last season at Turf Moor and aim to emulate what Sean Dyche’s men did as their impressive results in front of their own fans played a huge part in keeping themselves.

Their last home win was against Newcastle when Tomer Hemed scored the winner, the Israeli however does not feature today due to serving part of the three game suspension that he was awarded after stamping on DeAndre Yedlin during that game.

Last time out they traveled to The Emirates for the first time in the Premier League in what it is fair to say was a routine win for The Gunners. To be honest though it was something of a free hit for Brighton and those aren’t the games that will define whether you stay in the top flight.

On paper you would look at the two clubs and say that Brighton should not be getting anything from this either but as we know football is not played on paper and the Everton from now are a very different proposition then the one people imagined they would be witnessing at the start of the season.

I think it’s going to be small steps for Everton this afternoon as Brighton will certainly look to make life difficult for them. They could do with making giant strides but unfortunately for them I think this one will end up a share of the points, a result that Brighton will arguably be the more disappointed with. I reckon this one will be 1-1.

Here is what social media thinks will happen – you can still vote on the outcome