Everton struggled to find any consistency in their form in the first half of the season during 2021, and it seems their ill fate has followed them into the new year, as Rafa Benitez's side put on another poor performance at Goodison Park this afternoon.

The Toffees conceded their ninth defeat in the Premier League this season, losing 3-2 to Graham Potter's Brighton in front of the fans at home, with Anthony Gordon's two goals not enough to gain even a single point out of the game.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin made his highly anticipated return to the starting lineup and made the headlines for all the wrong reasons with a missed penalty that hit the woodwork in the 25th minute.

Lucas Digne was still missing in the side, where Benitez decided to play a three at the back formation, with Seamus Coleman playing out of position in the left wing-back position which was a decision that didn't pay off in the end.

In the 53rd minute the £120k-per-week midfielder bagged an assist, supplying Gordon with a swooping pass that resulted in a finished attempt in the back of the net for the 20-year-old forward.

However, one player who did manage to orchestrate a worthy performance for his team today was Brazilian midfielder Allan, who returned to the starting line up for the first time since Everton's energetic win over Arsenal on the 6th of December, which also happens to be the last time they won a game.

According to SofaScore, Allan, who was hailed "vital" by pundit, Darren Fletcher last season, had the best pass accuracy overall in the midfield line today with 78%, whilst winning 71% of his duels during the 87 minutes played before he was subbed off for Andre Gomes.

One fan took to Twitter to praise his individual performance amongst a number of poor performances around him, calling for him to become captain;

"Give Allan the armband the rest of the campaign. Passion."

Everton missed out on a home advantage opportunity to take three points from today's game, and continue to sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table, the Spanish manager is in a position to strengthen the team by making new additions during the transfer window to revive the season and add fresh legs into the team.

In other news: Benitez could sign Ainsley Maitland-Niles in January