- Everton have yet to win any of their eight meetings with top-half teams this season
- Individual mistakes cost Brighton against Arsenal last time out, but they have key men returning
- Recommended bet: Brighton to win

Brighton will look to bounce back from their recent defeat to Arsenal when they travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton on Tuesday.

Everton and Brighton experienced contrasting fortunes against the top two on New Year’s Eve, with Brighton disappointed with a 4-2 home defeat to Arsenal and Everton elated with a 1-1 draw away at Manchester City.

But while a point at the Etihad was as welcome as it was unexpected for Frank Lampard’s relegation-threatened Toffees, the Everton manager will know that his team must start picking up wins if they are to avoid another stressful campaign.

He will be targeting victories on home soil, hoping the Goodison Park crowd can roar his side to success, and matches against teams outside the traditional big six is where those points are most likely to come from.

However, despite Brighton’s recent poor performance against Arsenal, Tuesday’s visitors are among the best of the rest in the top flight, and a wounded Seagulls side will be desperate to show their true class on their trip to Merseyside.

Team news

Everton midfielder Amadou Onana is suspended after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season, while centre-back Michael Keane is out with a knee injury, and attacker Andros Townsend is a few weeks from returning.

Anthony Gordon and Yerry Mina both missed out against City through illness and will have to be assessed ahead of kick-off on Tuesday, while midfielder James Garner is out until February with a back injury.

Brighton welcome back Moises Caicedo following his suspension against Arsenal, while World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister should come straight back in following his return from international duty.

Striker Danny Welbeck has an outside chance of returning from a minor muscle strain, but centre-back Adam Webster is a week or so away from recovering from his own knock.

Midfielder Jakub Moder is aiming to return to first-team training towards the end of January as he recovers from an ACL injury.

The stats

While Everton’s resilience was heralded against Manchester City, in truth, the Citizens squandered several gilt-edged opportunities in a match they should have won. City compiled an expected goals rating of 2.0 in that match, while Everton managed just 0.1 but equalised through a freakishly excellent Demarai Gray strike.

By contrast, Brighton’s concession of four goals in their defeat to Arsenal had more to do with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez having a rare off day than the team suffering a poor overall performance. Sanchez saved three of seven shots on target and failed to stop two relatively straightforward opportunities.

Brighton will be confident of getting back on track against Everton as the Seagulls have a record of five wins and a draw from seven meetings with bottom-half teams this season, scoring 2.14 goals per game in those matches and winning all three away trips.

Everton have failed to win any of their eight matches against top-half teams this term. However, four of those have ended all square, and seven produced two goals or fewer, with Lampard preferring to shut up shop in the tougher assignments.

Prediction

Lampard’s men were fortunate to grab a point against Manchester City on New Year’s Eve, but that result will have given his team a much-needed confidence boost.

The Everton manager still needs victories rather than draws but is unlikely to change his approach against tougher opponents while he tries to build momentum.

However, the Seagulls have enough quality to eventually break through, as the expected return of Caicedo and Mac Allister will transform a midfield that occasionally looked a little lightweight against Arsenal.

With those two in harness, Brighton have been largely very impressive, winning away at Manchester United and drawing at Anfield, and Roberto De Zerbi’s men will sense a chance to challenge for the European places.

The visitors will want to go for all three points to make it four victories in six league matches, so back Brighton to win, which is available at 11/10 with LiveScore Bet.