Paul Merson predicts Everton vs Brighton result, highlights key factor that ‘not a word has been said about’
Paul Merson has backed Everton to record an important victory against an out-of-form Brighton side this weekend at Goodison Park.
In his Sportskeeda predictions on 2 November the Sky Sports pundit noted that Roberto De Zerbi’s men have only won once in their past seven outings across all competitions despite that fact apparently going under the radar.
And with the Toffees starting to take shape under Sean Dyche after winning five of their own past seven games as Dominic Calvert-Lewin has found some crucial form Merson has tipped a 1-0 home win on Saturday (4 November).
Merson said: “Brighton have won just one of their last seven games and not a word has been said about it, which shows that there’s absolutely no pressure on them to get results in the Premier League despite what they have built in recent years.
“Dominic Calvert-Lewin is back and amongst the goals and Sean Dyche has got his side playing the way he wants, so I’m going for a 1-0 Everton win.”
Shoots of recovery
Things may still be far from perfect for Dyche but the manager certainly deserves credit for putting together a run of form that has felt impossible at times over the past couple of years.
Everton may still be down in 15th but they are currently as far from Manchester United in eighth as they are to the bottom three (five points), and after a 3-0 victory over Dyche’s former side Burnley on Wednesday there is a genuine Carabao Cup run to speak of.
De Zerbi has been hailed throughout the league for the work he has done at the Amex and yet the Seagulls look to have gone off the boil of late.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t still going to be a threat at Goodison, and the loss to Luton Town for the promoted side’s first ever Premier League win on 30 September shows there is still a susceptibility to being caught out.
But it is certainly true that the form guide suggests the Toffees should probably be favourites for this one, especially after they sprung a huge upset last season when they definitely were not by going to the south coast and recording a huge 5-1 victory on 8 May.
If Dyche does get another performance from his players then questions might start to be raised about De Zerbi’s drop off, but Everton can’t let their standards slip and hand Brighton an opportunity to rebound.
In other Everton news, the recent “behaviour” of Josh Wander and Farhad Moshiri has been tipped to go down badly with the authorities overseeing the takeover process.