Chris Sutton predicts outcome of Everton clash v Brighton in Premier League
Everton will look to get back to winning ways when they take on Brighton in the Premier League on Tuesday (2 January) at Goodison Park.
The Toffees are heading into this game on the back of a 1-1 draw against Manchester City away from home, but Chris Sutton is still “not convinced” that they have got enough firepower to grab a home win.
The popular pundit, however, doesn’t think that the Toffees will lose the game either, and feels it will be a 1-1 draw while sharing his prediction for BBC Sport.
Brighton are 9th in the league table at the moment, and they will look to avoid back-to-back defeats after losing 4-2 against Arsenal in their previous game.
“The sooner that Brighton’s World Cup winner, Alexis Mac Allister, is back in action for them the better but they do have another key midfielder, Moises Caicedo, back from suspension for this game, which is a big boost,” said Sutton to BBC Sport.
“Everton got a great point against Manchester City but they really need a home win now to follow that up, and I am not convinced they have enough firepower to get it.”
Home win
The Toffees are winless in their last five matches in the Premier League and have won just once in their last eight matches.
This is a sign of crisis as they lie 16th in the table. After early promise, the club once again find themselves in the same vicious cycle, as they fight for survival.
The Toffees have a wretched form away from home, and they have heavily banked on their home results under Frank Lampard.
However, they are now struggling to win games at Goodison Park, and that is really frustrating.
With the quality of players Everton have got, they should be playing with more courage and authority at home.
It will be interesting to see how Lampard shapes his system for this game. Against City, he started with a five-man defence, bringing in Ben Godfrey into the side.
At home, the Toffees should look to play more expansive football, and Lampard can afford to take a defender out and start with a 4-3-3.
Amadou Onana is suspended for his game which means Lampard will need to shuffle his midfield pack for this tie.