Premier League: Everton vs Brighton
At 22:00 Beijing time on January 2, 2022, the 21st round of the Premier League, "Toffee" Everton will play against Brighton. Everton have been in the middle of the league in recent seasons, and the early stage of the season is decent, since entering October 2021, the Toffee has suffered an embarrassing record of 8 league games without winning, and there have been many contradictions in the team, and even affected the manager Benitez's position for a while, until the 2-1 victory over Arsenal and the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, the situation has improved. After 17 league rounds, Everton achieved 5 wins, 4 draws and 8 defeats, ranking 15th in the league with 19 points.
Everton have been suspended for half a month, and the team has been given some sufficient rest time, but the current main center-forwards Richarlison, Lewin, midfielder Gomez, right-back Coleman and center-back Mina are still in the injury list, which has a big impact on the strength of the Toffees. In addition, Everton's backline has performed poorly, conceding 29 goals in 17 league rounds and conceding 9 goals in the last 10 games, which shows that there are still many problems on the defensive end.
Brighton's results have been steady this season, and after 18 league rounds, they have achieved 5 wins, 9 draws and 4 defeats, ranking 10th in the league with 24 points. As I mentioned before, Brighton still has a certain shining point in the first half, and can grab points in the top teams such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and West Ham United, which shows that the team still has certain merits.
Brighton's recent recovery in form, first 2-0 clean sheet promotion Mabrentford, the last round of league away games against the Blues Chelsea, in the scene stronger than the opponent, 52% possession, 18 shots on goal 6 shots on target, in the case of the score behind, the team's resilience, in the stoppage time, with Welbeck's goal, finally 1-1 draw with the giants Chelsea. It is worth noting that Brighton's away results this season are far better than home, with 2 wins, 6 draws and 1 loss in 9 league games, ranking 8th in the league away, and only one game failed to bring points home.
In terms of past meetings between the two teams, Everton have played Brighton nine times, with a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, the past is dominant, and the Toffee also kept a 2-0 clean sheet in the first leg of the season. In terms of recent conditions, Everton has recently recovered in form and the team has the advantage in terms of physical fitness, but the lack of injuries in the main striker has indeed affected the strength of the attacking end; and Brighton has also shown a rebound trend recently, and the team has drawn Chelsea in the last round, which is also very morale-boosting.