Everton vs Brighton: Match Preview | Goodison Park prepares for its long farewell

Well, here we are. The Grand Old Lady’s last dance.

The new season always brings with it excitement and anticipation, but for Evertonians there will also be a hefty dose of emotion as they prepare to say goodbye to their home of 133 years.

Though this has been years, even decades, in the making the reality of leaving Goodison is really starting to hit home now we approach the start of its final campaign.

A series of tributes are planned throughout the year and the emotion is likely to ramp up with each passing match towards the final scheduled game against Southampton in May.

The hope is that emotion can channel into creating that famous Goodison bear-pit atmosphere on a regular basis. In recent years the likes of Spurs and West Ham had fine home records in their final seasons at White Hart Lane and Upton Park. A similar effect at Goodison should provide a solid platform for the team to push on.

That should hopefully ensure Everton avoid any stresses at the foot of the table. Last season was tortious for all concerned. So while a bland mid-table finish may not excite many football fans, for Evertonians they will snap your hand off.

There are genuine reasons for optimism. Everton have had a productive pre-season, bringing in five players so far while holding onto the biggest stars, namely Jarrad Branthwaite (with the caveat that things can happen very quickly before the window closes).

There is still a feeling that a couple more players are needed to add depth, and the Dominic Calvert-Lewin situation needs addressing, but the Toffees are in a better position than they have been at this stage in summer’s gone by.

All they need to do now is get things right on the pitch.

Brighton continue to show why many see them as the Premier League’s model club.

After Roberto Di Zerbi quit at the end of last season the Seagulls did not panic, responding by recruiting St Pauli boss Fabian Hurzeler, who at 31 is the Premier league’s youngest ever permanent manager.

He will look to build on the legacy of De Zerbi, who led Brighton to sixth in 2022-23 and their first ever place in Europe.

They went on to reach the last 16 of the Europa League, but the extra games appeared to take its toll and they could only finish 11^th in the Premier League. Freed from those Thursday nights I expect them to push back into the top half this time.

Their masterful recruitment looks to be continuing, with the likes of (Everton target) Yankuba Minteh arriving from Newcastle, Mats Wieffer joining from Feyenoord and Brajan Gruda signing from Mainz.

Expect at least one to join Chelsea for £70m next summer.

Everton have quite a lengthy injury list to contend with given this is the first game of the season.

Seamus Coleman misses out after being forced off against Roma last weekend. Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson are still nursing injuries that ruled them out of all of pre-season. James Garner is still struggling with a minor calf issue and Youssef Chermiti suffered a foot injury over the summer that required surgery.

On the plus side, all five summer signings are available and Michael Keane has recovered from a knee problem.

Everton were seconds away from securing a first league win in nine games thanks to a fine left-foot strike from Branthwaite, only for a Lewis Dunk header at the death to earn the Seagulls a point.

Everton boss Sean Dyche: “With your home crowd and home support, you want to give them good value in what your team does, and of course, that always starts with winning. If you can win in a right way and in a way that’s even more pleasing for the fans, then that’s even better.

“We definitely want it to be the fortress that it is, certainly through voice. We haven’t always made it through results. We did at the end of last season, but certainly with the voice of the fans and the way they backed the team. So, we definitely want that feeling and we want to reward that.”

Brighton boss Fabian Huerzeler: “I would say I’m really happy with the squad we have here.

“The players who played here before, we have two who we lost but that’s football. We’ll build on the foundations we have here. The mix is very good. We will see what happens.

“Fans want to have the feeling that players give everything, leave their heart on the pitch. That is what I want to see from my players.”

Everton made a disastrous start to last season, dominating against Fulham but paying the price for missed chances by being done by the sucker-punch later on. Let’s hope for something different this time. It is the least Goodison deserves.