Everton v Tottenham Hotspur
The race for a UEFA Champions League place is becoming more intense by the week with. With Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea seeming to have established themselves as the frontrunners for the Premier League, it leaves Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester United fighting for fourth place.
The importance of gaining that last Champions League spot is second to none with the amount of incoming revenue as well as possible high-calibre signings who are looking to ply their trade in European footballs best competition. Just seven points separate these four sides and this weekend sees two of those contenders clash at White Hart Lane as sixth place Tottenham host fifth placed Everton with just one point separating the two.
Paulinho returned from injury to rescue a point for a laboured Tottenham side at Hull City last Saturday, as they came from behind to draw 1-1. It was a disappointing result for Tim Sherwood’s team who came into the game after a 5-1 thrashing at home to Manchester City. They remain three points off fourth place Liverpool and a win here will see them go two ahead of their opponents. While doing excellently on the road, Spurs have struggled at home, managing to win just five of their 12 games, conceding 18 goals and scoring just 14.
They have enough quality at their disposal to believe they can grab a Champions League spot. Emmanuel Adebayor has been inspired since his return to first team action under Tim Sherwood. Five Premier League goals in that period tells its own story. Sherwood started his reign at Tottenham excellently and will be eager to get back to those winning ways here.
Everton bounced back from their midweek Merseyside derby despair against Liverpool with a late 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at Goodison Park last Saturday. Two pieces of individual quality firstly from Steven Pienaar to cleverly play in Steven Naismith to equalise, and then from Kevin Mirallas’ stunning 30-yard free-kick sealed the points for the Toffees and moved them up to fifth place in the Premier League.
In a game that was always going to be tough for Everton to try and be themselves, with morale low from their thrashing at Liverpool, injuries and Villa’s promising away mentality, coming back from a goal down to win showed strong character and resilience in which Roberto Martínez described the result as “the most satisfying win of the season” for him and his players. Martínez’s side dominated the ball, having 71% possession and completing 85% (491) of their 576 attempted passes compared to Villa’s 57% (135) success rate from 235 attempted. Everton will be seen as outsiders for fourth place but have exceeded expectations so far this season with Roberto Martinez doing an excellent job since taking over from David Moyes.
One advantage Everton as well as neighbours Liverpool have over the other two teams is that with no European fixtures, it will mean less games as well as a more spread out fixture list. Star striker Romelu Lukaku will be missed due to the injury he picked up against Liverpool. However, with Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley on form Everton remain a fierce team going forward. The duo have been the creative stars so far and will hope to produce good performances on Saturday.
Tottenham’s home form leaves a lot to be desired. With Everton having lost just twice on the road in the league this season they definitely have it in their locker to pick up maximum points at White Hart Lane. Spurs are coming off a thrashing from Manchester City and a draw against newly promoted Hull. Back Everton for the away win at a valuable 5/2.
