Paul Merson makes ‘something special’ prediction for Everton vs Brentford result
Paul Merson believes Brentford are one of the teams to beat in the Premier League and Everton will have to do “something special” to do so.
The Bees are unbeaten in the Premier League since losing 4-0 to Aston Villa on 23 October, a run which includes wins against Manchester City and Liverpool, and draws with Tottenham and Arsenal.
The Toffees’ 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest stopped the rot after a pair of defeats to nil, but Merson expects it to be a tall order for them to get anything when Thomas Frank’s side arrive at Goodison Park on Saturday (11 March), and has predicted a 2-1 away win.
In his Thursday Sportskeeda prediction column he said: “It’s a huge game for Everton. They led twice against Nottingham Forest last week but couldn’t convert it into a win. Brentford are a very good team and we saw that the other night. The Bees beat Fulham 3-2 and the Cottagers have been a pretty solid team this term.
“Brentford have the longest unbeaten run in the Premier League right now. On current form, they are one of the teams to beat in the English top flight. Everton will have to do something special to get a result here.”
Fight
The long unbeaten run clearly makes it a tough ask for anyone to take three points against the West London side right now, but if Everton are going to do it anywhere it will be at Goodison.
It was frustrating to give away the lead twice at the City Ground last weekend in a game which left both managers infuriated, especially when the Toffees had actually managed to find the net more than once despite their well-documented struggles in attack.
The last time they had done that was the day before Brentford’s last defeat, with the 3-0 win at home to Crystal Palace on 22 October.
Everton have fallen a long way since that day when Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Anthony Gordon both scored and things looked like they might be looking positive for the Frank Lampard era.
It’s another backs-against-the-wall job now for his successor Sean Dyche, with the club inside the bottom three despite having played a game more than all the sides around them.
So anything on the board from this game would be extremely welcome as he looks to navigate out of danger, and the reintegration of Demarai Gray into the side might be crucial.
It’s not going to get any easier in the near future either with games against Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United next up, so there is no time for Everton to write of tough match ups and target weaker ones.
They will have to give everything to end Brentford’s run here and keep the same energy for the upcoming battles, because this one looks like it is going down to the wire.