Everton vs Brighton Premier League predictions and stats: Will Toffees make strong start to final Goodison Park season?
Everton will hope to begin their final season at Goodison Park in style when they host Brighton on the opening day.
Both sides had completely different ends to the 2023/24 campaign, with Everton picking up nine more points in the final six games than Brighton. Will new manager Fabian Hürzeler get off to a winning start for the Seagulls or can the Toffees finally get an opening day victory?
Three predictions for Everton vs Brighton
Everton 1-1 Brighton (11/2 with Betano)
Everton are unbeaten in their last three matches against Brighton, winning one and drawing the other two. The Toffees have won five of their last eight Premier League games (D1 L2), having been winless in their previous 13 (D6 L7).
Among current Premier League sides, only Nottingham Forest (16) have earned fewer points so far in 2024 than Brighton (18).
Dominic Calvert-Lewin First Goalscorer (6/1 with Betano)
DCL struggled to find the back of the net last season, but found his shooting boots towards the end of the campaign with four goals in his final seven appearances.
Under 2.5 Goals (1/1 with Betano)
Under 2.5 goals has landed in five of Everton’s last six matches at Goodison Park, including the previous four. The team scoring first has never lost a Premier League meeting between Everton and Brighton (W10 D3), although the Toffees went 1-0 up in both games last season and both ended 1-1.
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How to watch Everton vs Brighton live
Everton vs Brighton is scheduled for 3pm (UK time) on Saturday 17th August but will not be broadcast live in the UK.
How both teams go into Everton vs Brighton
It’s going to be an emotional campaign for Everton, who will finally say goodbye to their longtime Goodison Park home. Standing for 131 years, it is one of the last remaining grand old grounds of English football and has witnessed some incredible moments down the years, including nine top-flight league titles for the Toffees, three Brazil matches — Pele and all — at the 1966 World Cup, a 2-1 win for West Germany over the Soviet Union in the semi-final of the same tournament, and the 1894 FA Cup final, won 4-1 by Notts County against Bolton Wanderers. But this is it, 19 more league games and, hopefully, a few cup games, then Everton will up sticks to Bramley Moore Docks.
In more recent years, Goodison has been used as an atmospheric weapon as the Toffees have battled against relegation. However, were it not for an eight-point deduction, Everton would have finished 12th in the table. Even with the deduction, they finished 15th and 14 points from trouble, with the improvement under Sean Dyche clear for all. Everton ended 2023/24 with five straight home wins without conceding a goal, including a 2-0 win over rivals Liverpool — their first home Merseyside derby victory since October 2010.
First up in 2024/25 is a Brighton side that finished a respectable 11th last season, while they also enjoyed a run to the last 16 of the Europa League in their first-ever European campaign. The Seagulls must now, however, prepare for life under new German head coach Fabian Hürzeler, who replaces Roberto De Zerbi after guiding St. Pauli to the Bundesliga.
His first job will be to stop the rot as only Nottingham Forest (16) have picked up fewer points so far in 2024 than Brighton (18). Three points here though would make history, with Brighton winning four consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
Everton host Brighton at 3pm (UK time) on Saturday 17th August at Goodison Park.
Everton team news
Tim Iroegbunam, Jake O’Brien, Jesper Lindstrom and Iliman Ndiaye are the four major incomings so far for Everton this summer, while Omari Benjamin will supplement their Premier League 2 side after joining from Arsenal. Jack Harrison has also rejoined on another loan. It’s keeping hold of players that might be an issue for the Toffees, with the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite and last season’s top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin linked with moves away and Andre Onana already completing a transfer to Premier League rivals Aston Villa.
Ashley Young should start at right-back with Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson ruled out, while both Jarrad Branthwaite and James Garner are both doubts. Youssouf Chermiti is out for a while after undergoing surgery.
Brighton team news
Brighton have already been busy this summer, bringing in the likes of Yankuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, Ibrahim Osman and Brajan Gruda, while Steven Alzate has been released and Adam Lallana has rejoined Southampton on a free transfer. German duo Deniz Undav and Pascal Groß have been sold to Stuttgart and Dortmund, respectively.
The Seagulls will be without goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen after he picked up an injury at the Euros, so Jason Steele should deputise. Verbruggen joins Solly March, Pervis Estupinan, Julio Enciso and Evan Ferguson on the sidelines, while Billy Gilmour is a minor doubt.
Everton vs Brighton head-to-head
Everton are unbeaten in their last three matches against Brighton, but haven’t beaten them at home since October 2020, when a James Rodriguez brace helped the Toffees to a 4-2 victory.
| Everton vs Brighton H2H | |||||||
| Date | Score | Ground | |||||
| 24/02/24 | Brighton 1-1 Everton | Amex Stadium, Brighton | |||||
| 04/11/23 | Everton 1-1 Brighton | Goodison Park, Liverpool | |||||
| 08/05/23 | Brighton 1-5 Everton | Amex Stadium, Brighton | |||||
| 03/01/23 | Everton 1-4 Brighton | Goodison Park, Liverpool | |||||
| 02/01/22 | Everton 2-3 Brighton | Goodison Park, Liverpool | |||||
| 28/08/21 | Brighton 0-2 Everton | Amex Stadium, Brighton | |||||
