Match Preview: Brentford V Everton

Brentford will return to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon when Everton visit the Gtech Community Stadium (kick-off 3pm BST).

The Bees and David Moyes’ side come into the game with an almost identical record, with only a goal difference separating them heading into the final seven games of the season.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here you will find everything you need to know before the game.

Pre-match analysis

Stephen Gillett, playmaker stats: Aerial battle key in Toffees clash

Brentford return to action after the international break with a three-pointer against one of the Premier League’s best away teams.

David Moyes’ Everton are level on points with the seventh-placed Bees, although with a lower goal difference, and have their own plans for a European place.

The Toffees swapped Goodison Park for the impressive Hill Dickinson Stadium at the start of the campaign, but more than half of their points have been earned away from home – their away form is backed by a rock-solid defence.

With 11 shutouts to their name in 2025/26, only Arsenal (15) have kept more clean sheets than Everton, who have conceded just 16 goals on their travels all season.

The Merseysiders have the lowest average possession percentage in the top flight away from home (39%), a statistic that underlines how organized and resilient Moyes’ team is without the ball.

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews will no doubt have taken advantage of the lull in Premier League action to analyze the Toffees’ potential vulnerabilities, particularly how the Bees can exploit them, and quick attacking transitions can offer their clearest route.

No team in the division has conceded more goals on fast breaks than Everton (6) this season, while Brentford have scored nine goals on fast breaks, the most in the league.

Seven of the Bees’ half-time goals were scored at home at Gtech Community Stadium… but their two goals from counter-attacks away from TW8 came in January’s fantastic 4-2 win at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Both were marked by Igor Thiago, whose meteoric rise this season became stratospheric during the international break.

Thiago has scored 19 goals in the Premier League this season, three of them in the first leg, and it only took 41 minutes to open his account with Brazil.

After a brief cameo in the 2-1 loss to France, Thiago came off the bench to calmly score a penalty in the 3-1 win over Croatia.

Having strengthened his aspirations for a place in Carlo Ancelotti’s 2026 World Cup squad, Thiago’s attention will return to club football and what could prove to be a decisive aerial battle.

Everton (22.1 aerial shots won per 90) and Brentford (20.2) are the two most aerially dominant teams in the Premier League this season, and both excel in the air at both ends of the pitch.

Everton centre-back James Tarkowski and his Brentford counterpart Sepp van den Berg are second and third respectively in the Premier League for aerial passes won this season, while Thierno Barry (4th) and Thiago (9th) also feature in the division’s top 10.

With seven games remaining, the race for a European spot is well balanced, and how both sides handle that aerial battle could go a long way to determining Saturday’s outcome.

Explorer Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Moyes has transformed Everton’s fortunes

At some points last season, there were fears that Everton could move into their shiny new home, Hill Dickinson Stadium, as a Championship club. For the fourth season in a row, they were looking over their shoulders, the threat of relegation lurking at every turn.

But since David Moyes’ return to Merseyside, there have been no such concerns. It’s as if they have disappeared into thin air.

The Scot lost just three of the 19 Premier League games he oversaw after replacing Sean Dyche in January 2025, leaving the Toffees 23 points clear of the relegation zone. Consequently, he was backed for this season, while Jack Grealish also arrived on loan from Man City and racked up four assists in his first three appearances.

After a steady start, Everton climbed to seventh place after a 3–0 home win over Nottingham Forest on 6 December. They won just two of their next nine, but remained in the top half after four draws in that run, two of them secured after falling behind.

On February 7 they came back again: this time they beat Fulham 2-1. Speaking afterwards, Moyes said: “I don’t want to come here and say we’re trying to avoid relegation. I don’t want to do that because Everton have had too much bad news and bad publicity, so I’d rather come here and say we’re going to try in Europe. Maybe in a few weeks they’ll laugh at me and say how stupid I was, but I’d rather be positive.”

More than two months later, no one is laughing at Moyes. Everton have won three and lost three and are now eighth in the Premier League. Arsenal needed 89 minutes to score their first goal in a 2-0 win on March 4. Fierce rivals Liverpool are now just three points clear in fifth place with seven games left.

Opta Analyst predicts that is where the Toffees will finish (0.45 points behind Brentford), but whether or not an eighth place finish will be enough to qualify for Europe is yet to be decided. As we enter the international break, sky bet He priced them at 11/2 to finish in the top six, 18/1 to finish in the top five and 50/1 to finish in the top four.

What is certain is that Everton need only three points to improve on last season’s 48 points, which would also represent the highest amount they have achieved since 2020/21 (59). You have to go back to 2018/19, the last time they finished eighth, and 2017/18, the last time they reached Europe.

Overall, the vision has changed for Everton; They no longer look over their shoulders. Judging by his track record since last January, ambitions may grow even more next term.

on the bench

David Moyes

Like most of his managerial colleagues in the Premier League, David Moyes had a long and successful playing career before turning to coaching.

He started at Celtic as a professional in 1980, where they won the Scottish Premiership in 1981/82, and went on to play for Cambridge United, Bristol City, Shrewsbury, Dunfermline Athletic, Hamilton and Preston. He was part of the North End squad that won the Third Division in the 1995/96 season and retired at the age of 35, having played his last game in February 1998.

By this time, he had been appointed manager of Preston, a role for which he was well equipped, having started receiving his coaching badges in his early 20s. Just over four years later, in March 2002, he was approached by Everton and soon swapped Division Two for the Premiership.

During his nine years on Merseyside, Moyes brought 16-year-old Wayne Rooney into the first team and into the eyes of the world and, from 2006/07 and 2012/13, led the Toffees to seven consecutive top-eight finishes, as well as reaching the 2008/09 FA Cup final, which they lost 2-1 to Chelsea.

In the summer of 2013, he was given the unenviable task of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, but lasted less than 12 months of the six-year contract he signed and was sacked in April 2014.

A year in La Liga with Real Sociedad followed, where he won just 12 of his 42 games in charge, before returning to England with Sunderland. There were just eight wins in 43 games there, and his spell ended with the Black Cats being relegated after a decade in the top flight.

Moyes was given a six-month contract to take charge of West Ham in November 2017 and was tasked with ensuring survival after the sacking of Slaven Bilić, which he did. However, his contract was not renewed in the summer and he left the London Stadium after 31 games and a 29 percent win rate.

The Scot returned to east London in December 2019 and was in charge of the Hammers until the end of the 2023/24 season, when his contract was not renewed. He oversaw the historic Europa Conference League victory in 2022/23 and left with the highest winning percentage of the club’s permanent managers, with 44.59 in 231 games in his second spell.

Moyes returned to management after a brief period away from football, returning to Everton on a two-and-a-half-year contract on January 11, 2025. The 62-year-old has managed 746 Premier League games, placing him behind only Ferguson (810) and Arsène Wenger (828).

The game plan

With Christopher Beesley, Liverpool Echo

Christopher Beesley, Everton reporter for the Liverpool Echo, looks at how David Moyes’ side are likely to line up on Saturday.

“I don’t think I’m giving away any state secrets by saying that Moyes’ Everton rarely deviates from a 4-2-3-1 formation,” Beesley told brentfordfc.com earlier this week.

“It is unfair to suggest that it is just physical aspects as there are some talented players in the team now, especially Iliman Ndiaye.”

Last starting eleven of the Premier League against Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; McNeil, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye; Beto

match officials

First bee game for Hallam

Referee: Farai Hallam

Attendees: Simon Bennett and Steven Meredith

Fourth referee: andres madley

VAR: Michael Salisbury

Farai Hallam will take charge of just his third Premier League game when he oversees Saturday’s game against Everton.

A former defender at Stevenage’s academy, his first game in the English top flight was Manchester City’s 2-0 win against Wolves in January, while he also refereed Burnley’s 3-2 win against Crystal Palace in February.

Hallam, who has never refereed a Brentford match before, has been the man in the middle in 26 games in all competitions this season but, despite brandishing 87 yellow cards, has yet to send off a player.

last meeting

Everton 2 Brentford 4, (Premier League, January 4, 2026)

Igor Thiago’s first Premier League hat-trick helped Brentford to a memorable 4-2 victory over Everton on their first visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Brazilian cleared James Tarkowski’s attempt from the line early on before finishing off Vitaly Janelt’s pinpoint cross to open the scoring.

Nathan Collins headed in to double the lead early in the second half before Thiago’s second and third goals sandwiched a Beto effort at the other end.

Thierno Barry scored another goal in stoppage time but it was just a blot on a positive day on Merseyside for the west Londoners.

Source link