Luke Davies - Spurs are there to be beaten
Yes, Tottenham Hotspur are still fourth in the Premier League table, but Antionio Conte’s words and actions tell you all you need to know about the mood around the club.
They are there to be beaten, a mentally weak team you could suggest, that may crumble under the Goodison Park atmosphere. Home games are still the priority and Spurs should be no different.
A win against Tottenham would take Everton to 29 points from 29 played. Meaning we have nine games to get to the magical 40 points, even though records show 37 is normally enough to keep a team up.
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I am of the belief that Sean Dyche should go with the same side that drew at Stamford Bridge last time out. Why not with confidence growing?
Although Ellis Simms may think he warrants a start, I still think Demarai Gray is the best option up top with his pace being a key asset, with Simms potentially making an impact from the bench if called upon.
The midfield, which is arguably Everton’s strongest part of the pitch, should remain the same, with a blend of running from Abdoulaye Doucoure and breaking up of the play through Idrissa Gueye, with Amadou Onana threatening to get into that No.10 position when attacking.
Adding to that, I would stick with the same defence. Ben Godfrey offers something a lot more aggressive and authoritative than Vitalii Mykolenko.
And the centre-backs seem to have formed a functional partnership with Seamus Coleman at right-back, barring any knocks from the recent internationals.
It may be ambitious, but all things are pointing towards an Everton win for me. Goodison under the lights, a flaky Spurs team, the first match for over two weeks. The ground will no doubt be rocking, especially if Everton score early. Prediction: 2-0 to the Blues!
Paul McParlan - We still miss Richarlison!
Monday night sees Tottenham Hotspur visit Goodison Park but for fans hoping to catch a glimpse of former favourite Richarlison, it appears he may be absent through injury.
Nevertheless, the sale of the Brazilian continues to impact Everton. He was the player whose goals were vital in ensuring Everton’s survival last season. Unfortunately, the calamitous squandering of millions of pounds on underperforming and overpaid players during Farhad Moshiri’s reign meant that the Blues’ best player had to be sold to keep the moneymen at the Premier League happy.
That decision has not worked to the benefit of either party. The Brazilian has struggled to establish himself as a regular in the Tottenham team and Everton have failed to replace his goals and assists.
This has plunged the side into yet another relegation dogfight. Looking back, might it not have made more sense to offload Anthony Gordon in the summer rather than our best striker? And did anybody outside of the Everton recruitment team seriously believe that Neal Maupay would be an adequate replacement?
If Richarlison does not play, it seems that the prospect of him scoring his first league goal of the season at his former home may have been removed. It would have been such a cruel twist of fate, and fate has rarely been kind to Everton. However, he will always be held in high esteem by most Evertonians.
Richarlison is one of the isolated examples of successful recruitment during the Moshiri years, a player whose value increased rather than declined during his time here.
This week financial matters off the pitch are proving to be a bigger concern than performances on it. A dark cloud of pessimism has descended at a time when recent results have seen some seeds of optimism emerging amongst supporters.
Many are now worrying about what the accountants are going to unearth next as they trawl through the club’s balance sheet. It would certainly be a case of ‘Everton that’ if relegation was to be decided by the push of a calculator button.
Nonetheless, this game gives the Blues a chance to continue their recent improvement. Who knows could we even see the return of Dominic Calvert Lewin? More importantly Sean Dyche needs to ensure that Harry Kane is not allowed to add to his tally of 14 goals against Everton in his last 15 games. Depending on the weekend’s results, Everton could find themselves back in the drop zone by Monday, so another three points are vitally important here.
Everton have not beaten Tottenham in a home league fixture since December 2012. Given the current chaos surrounding the North London club, there will surely never be a better opportunity to end this sequence.
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