Two teams in need of the points but for very different reasons will lock horns in the Premier League on Monday evening as Brighton & Hove Albion welcome Everton.
Brighton are currently 16th in the table, six points above the relegation zone, while Everton occupy eighth position, five points behind fourth-placed West Ham United with a game in hand.
Match preview
© Reuters
Back-to-back wins over Southampton and Newcastle United before the international break allowed Brighton to move clear of the bottom three, but Graham Potter's side are certainly not out of the relegation picture.
Indeed, last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United, coupled with results elsewhere, left the Seagulls in 16th position, three points clear of 17th-placed Newcastle United and six ahead of Fulham in 18th.
Danny Welbeck sent the visitors ahead at Old Trafford last time out, but the Red Devils answered back in the second half, scoring through Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood to secure all three points.
Brighton will be back on home soil on Monday, but they have struggled at the Amex this season, picking up just 13 points from 15 matches, which is the fourth-worst record in the 2020-21 Premier League.
The Seagulls will certainly be wary of suffering another loss ahead of a trip to Chelsea, but Potter's team currently have two games in hand over Fulham in the relegation zone, and it would be a surprise if they were relegated to the Championship from this position.
© Reuters
Everton will not be in the mood to hand out any favours on Monday as the Toffees look to end a run of three defeats from their last four matches in all competitions.
Carlo Ancelotti's side lost to Chelsea and Burnley in the league towards the start of March before being knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City just before the international break.
The Merseyside giants would have been looking to return to winning ways against Crystal Palace on Monday, but a late equaliser from Michy Batshuayi meant that the points were shared in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
The result has left the Toffees in eighth position in the table, five points behind fourth-placed West Ham with a game in hand, while they are just two points behind sixth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
Everton will still believe that they have an outside change of snatching a Champions League spot, but they will be determined to finish in the Europa League positions if they ultimately fall short in the top-four race.
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Brighton defenders Adam Webster and Dan Burn have both recovered from recent injuries, but the former has been out for the last two months and is therefore unlikely to come straight back into the side.
Solly March and Tariq Lamptey are still unavailable for selection, while Aaron Connolly and Florin Andone remain doubts, but Percy Tau could be in the squad, having served a quarantine period following his return from international duty.
Seagulls boss Potter should keep faith with the majority of the XI that took to the field against Man United, with Welbeck once again joining Neal Maupay and Leandro Trossard as part of a front three.
As for Everton, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Fabian Delph and Bernard are all unavailable for selection through injury, while Andre Gomes is unlikely to feature due to a hamstring problem.
Allan and Alex Iwobi are back in contention following recent issues, but Ancelotti has already said that he will not take any risks when it comes to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who has been struggling with an abdominal injury, meaning that the England international might miss out once again.
Allan could replace Gomes in the middle of the park, but there are not expected to be any surprises elsewhere, with James Rodriguez again supporting Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in attack.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; White, Dunk, Burn; Gross, Bissouma, Lallana, Moder; Trossard; Welbeck, Maupay
Everton possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Holgate, Keane, Godfrey; Coleman, Allan, Davies, Digne; Rodriguez; Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Everton
There were goals in the reverse match at Goodison Park, with Everton running out 4-2 winners, and we are predicting another entertaining game on Monday. No team has drawn more Premier League matches than Brighton (11) this term, and we are backing a 2-2 at the Amex.
Top tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brighton & Hove Albion win with a probability of 47.88%. A win for Everton had a probability of 26.13% and a draw had a probability of 26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brighton & Hove Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.21%) and 2-0 (8.94%). The likeliest Everton win was 0-1 (8.26%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.33%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with an 8% likelihood.