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Everton must maintain form at Brighton

By Matt Townsend

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 29: Solly March of Brighton & Hove Albion gets past Bernard and Lucas Digne of Everton during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton FC at American Express Community Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Brighton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 29: Solly March of Brighton & Hove Albion gets past Bernard and Lucas Digne of Everton during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton FC at American Express Community Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Brighton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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Another Premier League weekend looms and Everton are making the trip down to the south coast for a pivotal match, (what game isn’t now!), at Brighton and Hove Albion.

After a good three points were earned last week against West Ham, Everton face yet another huge game at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.

Marco Silva bought himself a little time with that 2-0 win at Goodison Park, but the game at Brighton is just as, if not more, important than that one.

This will be a critical test for whether Silva has learnt anything from recent weeks and from the result on Saturday.

I think most Evertonians will be looking carefully at the team he selects for the game. Will Silva stick with a winning team without tinkering, or will he return to what seems the reflex side he wants bringing back players like Seamus Coleman and Gylfi Sigurdsson?

I would sincerely hope that he picks the same side and goes with the team that won so well against the Hammers, although again ideally I would like to see him give Moise Kean a start.

This match isn’t at the comfortable environment of Goodison Park, it’s an away game, which always presents the Blues with a major problem!

Everton have still to win away since, ironically, they beat West Ham at the London Stadium back in March. That’s a truly terrible record.

Brighton will present a potentially awkward opponent. They have had a similar season so far to the Toffees, which is actually quite staggering given the different levels of transfer spending between the two clubs.

The Seagulls have changed their style this season moving away from the more defensive, long-ball style practised under Chris Hughton. Inevitably this switch has been a difficult one, with some very mixed results.

But Brighton, like so many lower Premier League clubs, are exactly the kind of side that Everton struggle so often against. Indeed the Blues lost here last season in a dreadful 0-1 defeat whilst Everton were stuck in a terrible run.

Although given the fact they are playing a more possession-based game might make them a little easier to deal with this time around.

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In fact there seems to be a trend where Everton tend to play much better against those teams who like to get the ball down and play constructive passing and possession football, not the more physical direct approach.

This is perhaps partly why the Toffees often seem so much more comfortable when they are playing the better teams in the Premier League.

So let’s hope for another three points tomorrow afternoon and some genuine momentum to the Blues season.