Overview
Before Christmas, Everton is predicted to go through two challenging rounds when they meet Chelsea and Arsenal respectively, and reality has proven that. David Moyes' team lost 0-2 and then 0-1.
Having entered this stage with positive form - winning 4/5 matches, only losing to Newcastle (1-4) - receiving two consecutive defeats made the excited atmosphere at Merseyside cool down right before the holiday. The 0-0 draw with Burnley helped them stop the declining momentum, but Everton at that time still carried the worry of attacking when falling into a 3-match winning streak.
However, the knot was removed in the match against Nottingham Forest. Everton won 2-0 right at City Ground thanks to goals from James Garner and Thierno Barry. Now, Moyes aims to win 2 consecutive matches for the first time in a month, and also the fourth time in the Premier League 2025-2026. Everton also expects to take advantage of the opponent's away weakness to avoid being surpassed by Brentford in the rankings.
In the opposite direction, coach Andrews' Brentford closed the year 2025 with a 2-0 away win against Wolves at Molineux. However, that was only a bright spot after a 4-match winning streak away from home against Crystal Palace (0-2), Brighton (1-2), Arsenal (0-2) and Tottenham (0-2).
Whether Brentford can extend their away win streak to create momentum - for the first time since May 2025 - is still a question mark, especially when away games against Everton often end in disappointment.
Since the 3-2 victory in May 2022, the West London team has not even scored a goal away from Everton. They lost two matches 0-1 before drawing 0-0 in the second leg last season (at that time the match took place at Goodison Park).
However, Brentford still has reason to be optimistic when entering their first trip to Hill Dickinson, thanks to a 4-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League - the longest under Andrews.
Personnel situation
Everton are handling a number of injuries, including Seamus Coleman, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jarrad Branthwaite (all have hamstring problems). Carlos Alcaraz and Michael Keane will be assessed for fitness later.
In addition, Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye also cannot participate because they are participating with the Senegalese national team in the African Cup in Morocco, where the tournament has entered the round of 16.
In the opposite direction, Brentford did not record new injuries after the match against Spurs on New Year's Day, but they are still missing Antoni Milambo, Josh Dasilva and Fabio Carvalho (both knee injuries). Frank Onyeka and Dango Ouattara are also absent due to being on duty at AFCON with Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
Although Igor Thiago has gone through 6 consecutive matches without scoring in the Premier League, this striker with 11 goals is still the biggest support in Brentford's attack.
Notably, 5/11 of Thiago's goals were the decisive goals of the match - only Erling Haaland (7) had more. In addition, his 4 goals were scored away from home, a significant number before the away match this weekend.
Expected lineup:
Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, O'Brien, Mykolenko, Iroegbunam, Garner, McNeil, Rohl, Grealish, Barry.
Kelleher, Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Henry, Henderson, Janelt, Yarmolyuk, Lewis-Potter, Thiago, Schade.
The match between Everton and Brentford takes place at 10:00 PM on January 4 (Vietnam time).
