Brighton will look to continue their remarkable run of form when they welcome Everton to Amex Stadium this Monday.
The Seagulls kept their European hopes alive last Thursday night courtesy of a 1-0 win over top-four chasing Manchester United. They secured the win after scoring a dramatic 99th-minute winner from the penalty spot by Alexis Mac Allister.
The win ensured they came into the round sitting in sixth position, with the advantage of having crucial games in hand over most teams around them. As such, their destiny is firmly in their own hands.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side will be glad to see Everton as the next visitors to Amex Stadium, as they’ve thrived at home in games against struggling opponents. The hosts have avoided defeat in all eight of their home Premier League games against any team coming into the round inside the bottom ten (W7, D1).
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They kept a clean sheet in six of those games and will fancy their chances of another clan sheet here, as only Brentford have managed to breach their goal in any home league game since the start of March.
Everton is the worst team to try to break down this stubborn Brighton defence, as the goal-shy Toffees are the lowest-scoring side in the Premier League. Sean Dyche’s side have scored just 27 goals in the PL this season, with only four sides from Europe’s big-five leagues scoring fewer ahead of this round.
However, they have scored exactly twice in three of their last five away matches, including last Monday night, where they put in a dominant attacking display against relegation rivals Leicester City.
But their 23 goal attempts were ultimately in vain as they were denied by a man-of-the-match display from Foxes’ goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
Dyche said his side “didn’t get the full reward in terms of the three points” but insisted the performance did increase his side’s “feel-good factor”. The former Burnley coach will hope that performance against the Foxes can help inspire his players to finally end a poor run of 13 away games without a win in the league(D6, L7).
If the players require further inspiration, their manager’s record of having never tasted defeat in five away league games against Brighton could provide it (W2, D3). And the fact that Brighton have won just one of their 12 Premier League games played on a Monday (D8, L3) could also boost Everton’s morale here.
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