Premier League Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton
Kick-off: Saturday 13 January, 17:30 Venue: Wembley Stadium
Tottenham will look to get back to winning ways in the Premier League as they welcome Sam Allardyce’s Everton to Wembley.
Prior to the 1-1 draw with West Ham, Spurs had won three in a row, further boosting their confidence with a 3-0 victory in the FA Cup against AFC Wimbledon.
The Toffees haven’t been able to take solace in either competition, losing the Merseyside derby in the cup and suffering defeats to Manchester United and Bournemouth in their two games prior to that.
After starting so well under Big Sam, Everton have hit a slump and haven’t put three points on the board since beating Swansea City 3-1 on December 18. You have to look back a week further for their last win on the road.
For much of the Premier League era, there was little between these two teams and this has traditionally been a fairly evenly-matched fixture. However, it’s over five years since Everton beat Spurs, when David Moyes and Andre Villas-Boas were still in charge – that seems like an incredibly long time in football.
It’s been a tough week for young Everton defender Mason Holgate, who was embroiled in controversy after his row with Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino; he could now be facing a ban amid a storm surrounding old tweets sent from his social media account, so it would be little surprise if the club took him out of the spotlight on this occasion.
Team news
Cenk Tosun is set to make his debut for the visitors. In the summer, Spurs were reportedly interested in the former Besiktas striker, who scored 14 goals in the first half of the season for the Turkish outfit. Allardyce’s biggest worries are at the other end of the pitch, where he will be missing Leighton Baines, Ramiro Funes Mori, Seamus Coleman, and potentially Michael Keane, who has a foot injury.
Harry Winks continues to manage an ankle injury and has been described as doubtful. The recurrence of Danny Rose’s knee injury isn’t a huge concern for Mauricio Pochettino, as the England international is expected back at the end of the month when the Lilywhites face United at home - though not before then. Toby Alderweireld’s hamstring is keeping him out until at least February. Christian Eriksen, who was rested against Wimbledon, will come back into the side.
Expected line-ups:
Tottenham: Lloris, Aurier, Vertonghen, Sanchez, Davies, Dier, Wanyama, Alli, Eriksen, Son, Kane
Everton: Pickford, Kenny, Jagielka, Williams, Martina, McCarthy, Schneiderlin, Sigurdsson, Bolasie, Rooney, Calvert-Lewin
Did you know?
Sam Allardyce hasn’t beaten Spurs since Mauricio Pochettino took charge, facing them with West Ham, Sunderland, and Crystal Palace. The Argentine has only lost to him once in the Premier League, when the Hammers beat Southampton in February 2014.
Allardyce will be particularly anxious about that record considering that Harry Kane has scored twice in his last two meetings with Everton and hit yet another brace in the cup last Sunday.
Prediction:
A trip to Wembley is not the sort of test Everton need when they’re looking to get back on track.
Both sides have had a decent amount of time to recover and as none of Kane, Eriksen, Son or Alli played 90 minutes last weekend, they should be firing on all cylinders. That’s certainly not good news for the Toffees given their problems at the back. That said, they did keep successive clean sheets against Chelsea and West Brom prior to their poor run.
Look out for an appearance from former Spurs hero Aaron Lennon, who could start on the bench but should play some role – the winger is sure to get a huge reception from the home fans. Tottenham 2-0 Everton
