Brighton vs Everton predicted XIs: Confirmed team news and probable lineups
Everton dragged themselves out of the Premier League bottom three with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, but they have been struggling on the road and face a tough trip to Brighton on Saturday.
The Toffees actually have a decent away record this season, with 17 of their 30 points earned (cut to 20 because of their 10-point deduction) coming away from Goodison Park. However, more recently, they’ve managed just a single point from their last four away trips.
Brighton, meanwhile, have lost just once at the Amex Stadium this term and will be looking to build on the 5-0 victory they secured at bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United last Sunday.
Dyche calls on teammates to help ease goalscoring pressure on Calvert-Lewin
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There’s a portion of Evertonians growing rather restless at Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s continued inclusion in the starting XI. For so long, the England international has been hampered by injuries, coming in and being incredibly effective for a couple of games before being sidelined for an extended period.
Now, the script has flipped, with Calvert-Lewin enjoying his longest run in the team in recent memory, but enduring a barren run dating back to October. In fact, heading into this weekend, the 26-year-old has just three goals and an assist to his name in 21 Premier League outings this season, failing to score in any of his last 19 appearances across all competitions.
Some are calling for summer arrivals Beto or Youssef Chermiti to be given an extended run in the team. However, Dyche has defended the performances and mentality of Calvert-Lewin, while calling on the rest of his Everton side — that have scored just 27 goals in 25 Premier League games so far this season — to start chipping in as well.
“I think he knows where he’s at,” said Dyche of Calvert-Lewin at his pre-match press conference. “There’s enough noise in football now.
“Do you think he’s thinking there’s no noise about him not scoring? I’m pretty sure he knows that. Whether fair or not, that’s strikers, isn’t it? That’s being a striker, that’s the reality of the role.
“But all strikers, I’m sure, want the adulation of being a striker and scoring goals. That’s part of the fuel that you’d have as a striker, that amazing feeling when you do score, especially at Goodison, because the crowd generally erupt. So I think they know the responsibility. That’s part of their role.
“Having said that, of course, it’s not just strikers’ responsibility to score goals. We want them to work, we want them to defend, we want them to do the hard yards for the team. So therefore we’ve got to pay that back with other people scoring.”
Brighton vs Everton team news
Brighton will be without Solly March, Jack Hinshelwood, Joao Pedro, Julio Enciso and James Milner this weekend.
Everton, meanwhile, will miss Arnaut Danjuma who is nursing an ankle injury and the game looks set to come too early for Andre Gomes, who has a calf issue.
Dele Alli remains sidelined, but hopes are high that Seamus Coleman will have recovered from a virus.
Brighton (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Webster, Van Hecke, Dunk, Lamptey; Gross, Gilmour; Adingra, Bounanotte, Mitoma; Welbeck.
Everton (4-4-1-1): Pickford; Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Onana, Gueye, McNeil; Doucoure; Calvert-Lewin.
