Paul Merson predicts result of Everton encounter at Brighton in Premier League.

Everton will struggle to secure three points against Roberto de Zerbi and Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday 24 February, according to Paul Merson.

The Sky Sports expert was “shocked” by the Toffees performance against Crystal Palace on Monday (19 February) and has predicted that they will lose 3-0 at the Seagulls.

After a run of eight consecutive league matches without a win, Everton have the potential to gain daylight between themselves and Luton Town, with the Hatters facing Manchester City in the FA Cup.

Writing for Sportskeeda on Thursday (22 February), he said: “I watched Everton last week and I was quite shocked – they were very poor against Crystal Palace. The irony with this game is that Everton were bad last year as well, and they won this exact fixture by a 5-1 margin. This is a challenging game for them, however, and I don’t see a replay of last season.

“Brighton need to win as much as Everton do this weekend. If their manager wants a position at a bigger club, he needs to instill some consistency into his teams. Brighton are too up and down at the moment.

“Everton were very fortunate against Palace at the end, and I thought that was a very disappointing performance. Brighton are the greater force when it comes to passing and mobility, and I’m going to back them to win this game.”

Can Sean Dyche save Everton once again?

The current Toffees manager has already led the team away from relegation once after Frank Lampard avoided the dreaded drop to the Championship on the last day of the 2021/22 campaign.

If not for the 10-point deduction due to a breach in Profit and Sustainability guidelines this season, Everton would be five points away from the top half of the Premier League table and sitting comfortably.

That is not the current situation, sadly, and the Merseyside club are in serious need of points soon. Four points behind Nottingham Forest, and just one point above Luton, who are in the relegation zone, they are well and well in a sticky situation.

Goals have been incredibly tough to come by, having scored only five goals in the last nine matches in all competitions. Something radical needs to change at Goodison Park, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin coming back into goalscoring form would be an excellent start.

In other Everton news, Dele Alli has tweeted an image of him and Tottenham star Son Heung-Min after the Toffees signed an agreement with Spurs

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