Everton v Brighton
Saturday 3 November, 15:00
Saturday 3 November, 15:00
Attacking threat
Everton's three-match winning run in the Premier League came to an end with last week's 2-1 defeat at Manchester United, going two goals behind before Gylfi Sigurdsson reduced the deficit with a 77th-minute penalty.
Overall they seemed to lack belief at crucial moments, perhaps not surprising given their poor record against United and a long winless run against the big six that now stretches to 19 matches.
This looks a good chance to bounce back for the Toffees, who lie ninth with 15 points and have no significant injury concerns.
Richarlison looks a good fit as a central forward, with fellow Brazilian Bernard performing well on the left and Sigurdsson in a more advanced position, Everton are posing a consistent attacking threat.
Three-match winning run
Brighton start this match in 11th place, a point behind Everton, following three consecutive 1-0 wins at home to West Ham, away to Newcastle and most recently at home to Wolves.
Glenn Murray is their key man, having scored the winner in their last two home games and overall netting six of their 11 goals. Opta tell us he is the only player to score more than half of his club's goals in the Premier League this term. Only one of those goals has come on the road, however.
Pascal Gross is back in training and could return to the matchday squad, having missed six games. Davy Propper is still sidelined with the ankle injury he sustained against West Ham.
Everton scoring well
Everton are starting to look a decent side under Marco Silva, having lost only once to a team outside the big six. That was 3-1 at home to West Ham, which was a poor result, while their other two defeats this season were away to Arsenal (2-0) and United (2-1).
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect is that only Arsenal have prevented them from scoring, although that is not so surprising given that Silva's attacking approach was already evident with Hull and Watford and now he has much better players.
Silva's side have scored at least two goals in six of their eight games against teams outside the big six and after stumbling in some of their early matches, they have won their last three in that category.
Brighton ended their long winless run on the road with their 1-0 victory at Newcastle a fortnight ago but now they have to prove they can follow it up against a better-quality side. Their three Premier League away wins in 24 games have been against sides that started the match in the bottom six.
Chris Hughton's side will be more confident of their capabilities on the road now and they did have back-to-back away wins around this time last year, but it looks difficult for them to bottle up Everton or match them on the scoring front.
Possibly it's taking a risk on Brighton being able to score, but Everton to win and over 2.5 goals looks a decent shout given Silva's commitment to an open game.
Silva stats hold sway
Brighton were top of the list for games with under 2.5 goals last season, and even more emphatically so on the road, but they may be overridden by Everton's figures under Silva.
Seven of their 10 games under Silva have gone over 2.5 goals and all of them have had at least two goals.
Opta Stat
Brighton have won their last three Premier League games, all by a 1-0 scoreline. The last team to win four in a row by this scoreline were Leicester in April 2016. Brighton are 17.00to win 1-0 here.
RECOMMENDED BETS
Back Everton to win and over 2.5 goals at 2.58
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