Everton welcome Brentford to Goodison Park with Premier League survival finally in their sight

When the fixtures were announced last June and Everton found out they’d be hosting newcomers Brentford this late on in the season, few would have predicted that it would be the Toffees going into the game with their Premier League status still not officially secured.

Frank Lampard’s side – who of course began the campaign with Rafael Benitez at the helm – have endured a horror story of a season. Up until late April, their position in the top flight truly looked to be in danger, only moving out of the bottom three with a win at Leicester City seven days ago.

Preceded by three points against Chelsea and proceeded by a goalless midweek draw at Watford, that victory against the Foxes has gone a long way to easing the pressure on the Toffees who today could mathematically confirm their survival.

For that to happen, they need Leeds United – currently occupying 18^th – to lose or draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, but more importantly, they also need to pick up three points on home turf against a Brentford side which is already confirmed as safe.

Thomas Frank’s Bees head into today’s clash on Merseyside sat 13^th, three places and seven points better off than their hosts, though Everton do have a game in hand still to come.

In their first-ever Premier League campaign, where many had predicted them to struggle, Brentford have done anything but and have rarely been mentioned in the relegation shake up.

The Londoners have lost just twice in their last nine outings, drawing once, and picking up an impressive six wins including last time out at home to Southampton.

Ex-Leeds man Pontus Jansson was on the scoresheet in their 3-0 win against the Saints and it’s Brentford who take on the Yorkshire side in the last game of the campaign next weekend, so it’s fair to say that the Bees could yet have a big say on who ends up beneath the dreaded red line.

With Leeds’ home game against Brighton kicking off at 2:00PM and Everton not getting underway against Frank’s men till 4:30PM, the Toffees will head into their own game today knowing exactly how the situation looks.

Regardless of what Leeds do however, the picture is surely clear for Everton ahead of their final home game at Goodison Park this term. Three points would make relegation very unlikely.

Turning Back Time 

Unsurprisingly given Everton’s stature as a top-flight club and Brentford’s history as a lower league club, the pair hadn’t been in the same division prior to this season since 1953/54.

Due to that, there’s not much history to tell in recent times between the two though in the third round of the League Cup in 2010, then League One Brentford knocked the Toffees out on penalties.

Remarkably, Everton captain Seamus Coleman scored his first goal for the club in that game at Griffin Park during what was his second season with the club. The Republic of Ireland international has now been an Evertonian for 13 years and counting. Current teammate Anthony Gordon was just seven years old when Coleman moved to Merseyside.

Fast forward to this season, and again the Bees came out on top in November’s reverse Premier League fixture, running out 1-0 winners with Ivan Toney’s first-half penalty enough to compound the visitors to another defeat on the road.

Back at Goodison however, Everton did beat Brentford in this season’s FA Cup fourth round. Richarlison was on target in a 4-1 success as Lampard got his time on Merseyside off to a positive start, that his first game having been appointed Benitez’s successor.

Coverage

Our reporter Ben Olawumi will be bringing you coverage live from Goodison Park for today’s 4:30PM kick-off. You can follow him on Twitter – @OlawumiJourno

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt

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