Everton host Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, with Carlo Ancelotti side looking to keep up their winning start to this season.
Everton are one of three sides – along with Leicester City and Liverpool – to have won all three games to start the season, and the Toffees are riding high. New signings James Rodriguez and Allan have been excellent, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin has found himself amongst the goals regularly as well.
Brighton were desperately unfortunate to lose to Manchester United last week, in a game where they hit the woodwork five times. The Red Devils prevailed in that one after late drama, when Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty that was awarded by VAR after the final whistle had actually been sounded.
When is the Match between Everton and Brighton ?
The match will take place at the Goodison Park on Saturday.
Kick Off Time
The match will start 3:00pm BST. It will be played behind closed door due to the current guidelines regarding Covid-19.
Team News
Everton
Midfielder Jean-Phillippe Gbamin and striker Cenk Tosun have long-term injuries. Defenders Mason Holgate and Jonjoe Kenny are on the road to recovery, but they will not feature in this game.
Allan also picked up an injury in the League Cup clash against West Ham, and is likely to miss this game.
Predicted Lineup (4-3-3): Jordan Pickford; Seamus Coleman, Yerry Mina, Michael Keane, Lucas Digne; Andre Gomes, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gylfi Sigurdsso; James Rodriguez, Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Brighton
Davy Propper, Jose Izquierdo and Florin Andone are all long-term absentees for Brighton, but Graham Potter will be encouraged by the performances he’s seen from the squad he has at his disposal.
Yves Bissouma is also once again available for selection, after serving his suspension for the red card he received in the Seagulls’ away Premier League win against Newcastle.
Predicted Lineup (3-5-2): Matt Ryan; Ben White, Lewis Dunk. Adam Webster; Tariq Lamptey, Yves Bissouma, Steven Alzate, Adam Lallana, Solly March; Neal Maupay, Leandro Trossard
Everton vs Brighton Head-to-Head and Results
Everton have won eight out of the 17 games that they have played against Brighton. The Seagulls have won just four, whereas the two teams have played five draws against each other.
Everton are in excellent form, having won all three games in the Premier League. They were also impressive in midweek, in a 4-1 thrashing of West Ham United in the League Cup, when Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a hat-trick.
Brighton have a win against Newcastle sandwiched between hard-fought home losses to Chelsea and Manchester United. They also lost in the League Cup to Manchester United in midweek, when Potter rotated the pack, to keep a lot of his regulars fresh and ready for the Premier League.
Key Stats
Brighton have never won away at Everton in all competitions, drawing two and losing six of their eight visits.
The home side has won each of the last five Premier League meetings between Everton (3) and Brighton (2), with the other ending 1-1 in October 2017.
Everton are looking to win each of their opening four games to a top-flight season for the first time since 1969-70, when they went on to win the title.
Brighton are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League away games (W3 D5). The Seagulls have won three of their last four on the road, as many as they had in their previous 27 (W3 D9 L15).
Brighton are averaging 14.7 shots-per-game in the league this season, their highest rate in any of their Premier League campaigns. The Seagulls expected goals (xG) rate is also the highest it’s been for them in the competition, with an xG value of 1.8 per game so far.
