Brighton v Everton tips: Premier League best bets and preview
Jake Pearson previews Everton's trip to Brighton, picking out his best bet and a score prediction.
Football betting tips: Premier League
1pt Everton to win at 11/5 (General)
Brighton have started the season like a house on fire, coming from behind to beat Burnley on the opening weekend of the season before putting Watford to the sword on Saturday.
A routine 2-0 victory over Cardiff in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening means Brighton have now won all three of their competitive fixtures this season, and Graham Potter’s men do finally seem to be putting it all together.
The major criticism Brighton faced last season was their lack of cutting-edge, carving out plenty of opportunities but unable to convert into goals.
That has not been the case so far this season however, scoring four goals in their two opening Premier League matches; overperforming slightly according to expected goals (3.5).
Kick-off time: 15:00 BST, Saturday
Brighton 11/8 | Draw 11/5 | Everton 21/10
However, an opening-weekend victory over perennial slow-starters Burnley is hardly concrete proof that Seagulls fans are in for a better campaign this time around, nor is a win over one of the newly-promoted sides, even if it was convincing in manner.
Against Everton, Brighton face their first real test of the season, and it will be a tough one.
Last season was a little topsy-turvy for Everton, underperforming on the whole in terms of expected goals, but take into account the definite transition the club were going through.
Under Carlo Ancelotti Everton were building, and Rafa Benitez has already demonstrated how solid a foundation the Toffees have in place.
Everton started slowly against Southampton in their opening fixture, 1-0 down at the break, but they came out firing in the second half and completely blew the Saints away.
Against Leeds, Benetiz’ men produced anther entertaining performance, and they created much the better chances despite seeing less of the ball than their opponents; Raphina’s impressive strike meaning the points were ultimately shared.
Conceding possession whilst carrying a definite threat through fast, direct football has been a theme of Everton’s play since the beginning of last term.
The Toffees recorded just the 14th highest average possession in the division last term, while this season they sit in 18th place after two matches.
Particularly away from home this tactic suits, which goes a long way to explaining why they collected the fourth-most points on the road last season, winning 11 of their 19 matches away from Goodison Park.
By contrast, Brighton picked up the fifth-fewest points at home last campaign, winning just four games at the Amex.
These are two relatively evenly matched teams, both of whom are potentially in a much better position than they were last season, but in a similar fashion to last season, Brighton may have been overestimated by the layers.
A price of 11/5 for a team that won 58% of their away matches last season, against a team that lost 47% of their home matches, makes plenty of appeal, so backing EVERTON TO WIN is the recommended bet in this fixture.
Brighton v Everton best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Everton to win at 11/5 (General)
Score prediction: Brighton 1-2 Everton (Sky Bet odds: 10/1)
Odds correct at 1350 BST (25/08/21)
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