Premier League: The Toffees are in a Sticky Situation Against Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton

Everton are in a dire situation and they’ll be desperate to end their slide when they’ll visit North London to take on Tottenham.

The Toffees are in a precarious position since they’re at 17^th at the Premier League table with 22 points – which is only a point over 18^th-placed Burnley.

Spurs, meanwhile, have been blowing hot and cold especially in these last few games. Despite that, however, they’re still in contention for a spot in Europe since they’re at seventh with 42 points.

This will be the first time that Antonio Conte and Frank Lampard are to face off in the coaching sidelines and it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll go about on Monday.

Read on below as SBOTOP examines what’s ahead with today’s match preview. 

Talking Points

Tottenham still finding the winning formula

Antonio Conte still has a lot of work to do in order to turn Tottenham into a perennial Premier League contender, especially since they’ve been incredibly up and down in 2022.

Wins over Manchester City and against Leeds United have shown fans a glimpse of what they can be. But in typical Tottenham fashion, they’ve somehow lost to Wolves, Southampton, Burnley, and Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

Spurs can’t seem to get it together when it matters most, so Conte is always faced with a conundrum on who to plug in and out of his rotation.

Although the Italian’s carrot-and-stick approach is a microcosm of his no-nonsense treatment to his players, there are times that Conte appears to be too hard and intense on his players.

Star forward Heung-Min Son can sometimes have an off-night here or there. And one of them was against Middlesbrough where he fired blanks during his 120 minutes on the pitch, which is in stark contrast to his performance against City a fortnight ago.

The Korean is known to respond better with positivity. And after being on the receiving end of a tongue lashing from Eric Dier, Conte must find a way to help Son regain his confidence along with his strike partner in Harry Kane.

It would also help if they can get some of key players back from injury. Lucas Moura, Rodrigo Bentancur, Oliver Skipp, and Japhet Tanganga were all unavailable on Wednesday and Conte is hopeful that they’ll be fully-fit soon.

Everton adjusting on the fly

Frank Lampard is hopeful that they’re FA Cup victory over Boreham Wood would somehow give them momentum ahead of Monday.

Salomon Rondon was the hero for the Toffees as he bagged a brace vs. the National League side. Meanwhile, Vitaliy Mykolenko – who was handed the captain’s armband as a tribute to his home country Ukraine – performed well too.

January signings Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli didn’t get to play and both might see action on Monday. Donny van de Beek was rested due to a knock that he picked up against Manchester City while Dele Alli has yet to hit regain his form.

Moreover, Demarai Gray and Richarlison didn’t get to play much against Boreham Wood too and they’re likely to rejoin Andros Townsend up front against Tottenham.

History

Tottenham are the better side in this particular head-to-head matchup recently. They’ve lost just one of their last 18 Premier League meetings (W8, D9), with the sole loss coming from this exact fixture last season (1-0).

Following their 1-0 win over Tottenham last term, Everton are planning to get their second straight away win for the first time since a stretch between August 2006 to November 2008.

Should Everton win this match, Tottenham are going to be losers of three straight home matches for the first time since 2008 and Antonio Conte has never experienced such as a manager before.

Their reverse fixture took place in November where both sides had to settle for a goalless draw. Mason Holgate was sent off in stoppage time and Rafa Benitez was still at the helm for the Toffees at the time.

Betting Tip

Even with their inconsistent Premier League 2022 results, Tottenham are still favoured by the Premier League 2022 odds. The Spurs are installed at 1.61, while an Everton victory is at 5.40 and a draw is pegged at 3.80 in the 1X2 market.

Neither have scored during their reverse fixture, but that’s unlikely to happen this time around and perhaps you may also fancy going for Over 2.25 @ 1.65 as your alternative bet for a good payday. In the end, Tottenham are likely to provide more goals than Everton so we’re confident about their chances in taking home all three points.

 

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