Aiming to extend their winning streak across all tournaments to three matches, an in-form Everton host Brighton & Hove Albion at Goodison Park in Saturday's Premier League fixture.
The Toffees put three unanswered goals past Burnley in midweek to progress to the EFL Cup quarter-finals, while Roberto De Zerbi's team failed to hang onto a slender lead in a 1-1 draw with Fulham last weekend.
Match preview
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Developing a knack for scoring against his former teams this season, Everton defender James Tarkowski - who contributed to his side's win over Brentford in September - could not help but crack a smile as he broke the deadlock against Burnley in Wednesday's EFL Cup battle.
The Clarets may have undergone a significant transformation since Sean Dyche handed the reins over to Vincent Kompany, but the ex-Clarets boss taught his old employers a footballing lesson at Goodison, as Amadou Onana and Ashley Young made the victory more emphatic in the second period.
An intriguing last-eight tie with Fulham has now been added to Everton's Christmas calendar, and Goodison will be brimming with festive joy should Dyche's side continue along the same road, having now come up trumps in five of their last seven fixtures across all competitions.
Three days before knocking Burnley out of the cup, Everton became the first team in 2023 to prevent West Ham United from scoring in a Premier League home game, as a solitary Dominic Calvert-Lewin effort saw the Toffees rise to 15th in the table with a five-point chasm separating them from the drop zone.
Only Liverpool have managed to breach the Everton backline in the Toffees' last four games, and even then Dyche's 10 men gave their Merseyside rivals a good run for their money, and the hosts could now march to three successive home wins for the first time since September 2021.
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The Fulham curse continues to haunt Brighton & Hove Albion, who had not won any of their six Premier League meetings with the Cottagers prior to last weekend's blustery South Coast clash, where Evan Ferguson once again made the league stand up and take notice with a crisp finish into the bottom corner.
However, as the weather worsened, so did the Seagulls' finishing, as Fulham's midfield fulcrum Joao Palhinha picked out the top corner with a stunning second-half strike to rescue a point for Marco Silva's side and leave Brighton still searching for their recipe for success against the Cottagers.
Having seen their EFL Cup journey come to a close against Chelsea in round three, the Europa League contenders have enjoyed a well-earned week without any competitive commitments as De Zerbi seeks to correct an indifferent run of form, which has seen the Seagulls win just one of their last seven games across all tournaments.
Three draws and one defeat from their last four Premier League contests has seen Brighton lose ground in the enthralling top-four race, as the visitors occupy seventh place in the table with 17 points to their name, six fewer than Liverpool in the fourth and final Champions League position.
No clean sheet in eight away games also makes for unpleasant reading for Brighton, who were memorably on the wrong end of an astonishing 5-1 annihilation when Everton visited the Amex in May, although the Seagulls had also silenced the Goodison crowd with a 4-1 Merseyside mauling in January.
Team News
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As has been the case throughout the past several weeks, Everton remain without three long-term absentees in Dele Alli (groin), Andre Gomes (calf) and Seamus Coleman (knee), the former two of whom should not return before the next international break.
Coleman is now training fully with the group, but Dyche is understandably loath to rush him back into first-team action, and the former Burnley boss should keep faith with the majority of players who sent his old team packing in midweek.
One change in the final third should see Abdoulaye Doucoure recalled in place of Arnaut Danjuma, though, while Nathan Patterson is on standby should Ashley Young's 38-year-old legs require a rest.
Brighton's injury situation should remain largely unchanged too, as Jakub Moder and Julio Enciso remain on the road to recovery from their knee problems, while Danny Welbeck (unspecified) and Solly March (knee) are out with the afflictions they sustained against Ajax in the Europa League.
Full-back duo Tariq Lamptey (unspecified) and Pervis Estupinan (thigh) were not risked for the meeting with Fulham, and while the latter remains absent for the time being, Lamptey is on course to feature.
Billy Gilmour, Joel Veltman and Ansu Fati are among last week's substitutes seeking recalls to the XI, while Ferguson ought to continue up top after becoming the first teenager to net 10 Premier League goals in a calendar year since Wayne Rooney in 2005.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Garner, Onana, McNeil; Doucoure; Calvert-Lewin
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Steele; Veltman, Dunk, Webster, Milner; Gilmour, Baleba; Fati, Gross, Mitoma; Ferguson
We say: Everton 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Away attackers enjoyed a field day when Everton and Brighton met one another on both occasions last term, but if recent displays are anything to go by, Dyche's tough Toffees will prove more than capable of stunting an injury-hit Seagulls attack.
Sixteen goals have flown into the back of the net in the last three meetings between these two clubs, but a more low-key affair can be expected on Saturday, where a well-rested Brighton could be restricted to just the one point against their in-form hosts.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
