Everton vs Tottenham Hotspur: Preview, Team News & Predictions
Tottenham Hotspur will aim to become level on points with Arsenal and Manchester City briefly when they travel to Goodison Park to test Everton in the first game of match day 23 of the Premier League.
Spurs bounced back from their FA Cup exit in the 1-0 loss versus Man City with a win over London rivals Brentford on Wednesday. A host of returning players and substitutes blew the Bees out of the water in a two-minute burst that saw Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson turn a 1-0 deficit around.
Richarlison continued his hot streak – he now has seven goals in as many PL games – and although Ivan Toney cashed in once again, Tottenham had enough in the bank to edge their opponents.
Ange Postecoglou is set to complete Spurs’ first league double over the Toffees for the first time since 2017/18.
Everton, meanwhile, are in the dreaded drop zone after Luton Town’s 4-0 rout of Brighton and Hove Albion.
They’ll hope the appeal of returning the 10 points that were docked from their tally earlier in the season is returned, as they would sit 12th if not for the penalty.
Sean Dyche is far from the personality who believes in the would have’s though, and he’ll be well aware of the fact that after four wins on the bounce against Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Burnley, the Toffees have only mustered one win – against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup 3rd round replay.
Team News
Everton
Idrissa Gueye is in contention to start after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.
“Doucoure is on the grass but not with us yet, so he’s unlikely. We had a knock to Danjuma, and the games coming quickly, so he’s a doubt,” confirmed Dyche when speaking to the media ahead of the fixture.
Amadou Onana was viewed as ‘touch and go’, while Seamus Coleman isn’t far from a return.
Abdoulaye Doucoure continues to be a massive miss. He’s currently training away from the first team. Former Barcelona man Andre Gomes remains out for the long-term.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs youngster Alejo Veliz joined Sevilla on a loan deal for the rest of the season, but the good news is that Pape Sarr is set to return to the fold after his Senegal side crashed out of the AFCON.
James Maddison earned his first start since November and should be ready to go again.
While Ryan Sessegnon, Manor Solomon and Giovani Lo Celso are ruled out, Son Heung-Min and Yves Bissouma are currently representing their countries at their respective tournaments.
Predicted XI
Everton (4-4-1-1): Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Onana, Gueye, McNeil; Harrison; Calvert-Lewin
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur; Kulusevski, Maddison, Werner; Richarlison
Match Prediction
Dyche has a history of turning it on in the big games. His side will rely on a moment of quality from someone such as Harrison or McNeil because the strikers are the primary reason for their new-found struggles in front of goal.
Spurs should be able to scrape through, regardless. They have more firepower and two key first XI players in Maddison and Sarr back.
Predicted score: Everton 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Hah. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.