Everton: 3 Things to watch out for during Brighton vs Everton

Set-Piece Battles

Fans could be in store for a real tense set-piece battle at the Amex.

Both teams have a lot of pieces that are can offer a lot of danger from set-pieces, whether that’s the players taking the set-pieces or the players receiving the ball from a set-piece. Each manager will warn their players about how dangerous the other can be from a dead-ball situation, with players like Mina, Lewis Dunk and Dominic Calvert-Lewin who can bury the ball from a corner or a direct free-kick.

Everton were the third-best team in the Premier League when it came to scoring from set-pieces with 14 goals, a lot of those coming from the head’s of Mina, Keane and Calvert-Lewin. The Toffees also have a very dangerous free-kick taker in Lucas Digne, who has shown during his Everton career that he knows how to find the back of the net from a dead ball situation. Benitez will try to highlight Everton’s ability with the corner kick, with players like Digne and Andros Townsend delivering the corners, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to see the Toffees scoring from a set-piece during the 90 minutes.

Brighton weren’t as deadly as Everton from set-pieces, scoring only seven from set-pieces during the 20/21 season, but one thing Brighton do offer are a lot of weapons from set-pieces. They have two criminally underrated players taking free-kicks and corners in the form of Pascal Groß and Leandro Trossard.

Groß especially is a player who offers goals from range, including dead balls. The Seagulls also offer some serious aerial threats with Dunk and Adam Webster, they also have Dan Burn, but the 6’5 mountain of a man will miss the game due to a torn knee ligament which he suffered at the end of July in a pre-season game against Luton Town.

It’s very possible that we could see a few goals from set-pieces during this game, which will offer a lot of tension during every free-kick and corner at the Amex.