Chris Sutton predicts outcome of Everton v Brentford clash in Premier League
Chris Sutton has predicted that Everton and Brentford will share the spoils in their upcoming Premier League encounter at Goodison Park on Saturday, 11 March.
Sean Dyche’s side enter the crunch clash on the back of a promising 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest, in which they threw away two leads, and were ultimately unlucky not to come away with all three points.
Making his predictions for the BBC Sport website, Sutton admitted that the match was “extremely awkward” to call, with the Goodison Park factor enough to get Everton a 1-1 draw against Tomas Frank’s Brentford side, who are 12 games unbeaten in the Premier League.
“This is an extremely awkward game to call,” he said.
“Everton were unlucky not to beat Nottingham Forest last weekend but Brentford keep on getting good results – they have not lost in the Premier League since 23 October, a run of 12 games.
“What I like about Everton is that they are scrapping under Sean Dyche. They had a bit of energy against Forest, who I find quite difficult to read.
“I have talked before about the importance of Everton’s home games in their fight against relegation because their away record is so wretched, but I don’t think they will win every time they play at Goodison Park.”
Positive signs
The score draw at the City Ground had plenty of positives to it. Firstly, and most importantly, Everton remembered how to find the back of the net, with Demarai Gray and Abdoulaye Doucouré netting in the 2-2 draw.
Gray was a thorn in the side of Nottingham Forest’s defence all game long, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see him retain his position in the starting line-up.
However, with Brentford often playing with three centre-backs this season, Dyche may need to consider playing another out-and-out striker to occupy the Bees’ backline and provide Gray with the freedom to roam freely.
As well as the 26-year-old’s return to the goals, the midfield balance that Dyche struck was bang on. With Idrissa Gueye holding the fort at the base of the Toffees midfield to great success, Doucoure was awarded the opportunity to push forward and latch onto the end of loose balls in the final third.
This was exactly how his goal was created, as he arrived late on the scene to nod home a scrappy-looking goal on the half-hour mark, something that everyone would not mind seeing again.