Tottenham vs. Everton: Analysis of the Opposition | Is This Too Much for the Touring Blues?
The game on Saturday seems to be an interesting contrast of football ideologies.
After losing in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, Everton will play in the Premier League again on Saturday. The team’s starting players are still sidelined by injuries, but they still have four games left until their well-earned vacation on January 4th.
The Blues have to get ready for their trip to the capital to play Tottenham Hotspur in the meantime.
Structure
Spurs made significant investments the previous season, but after witnessing an irate Antonio Cote progressively collapse and talk himself out of a position, Ryan Mason, an ex-player turned coach, ended up leading the team as they finished in ninth place. They hired Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou in the summer to get ready for a more competitive campaign, and they then spent €130 million on net transfers.
Spurs made major additions to their roster in anticipation of the impending departure of legendary striker Harry Kane, including winger Brennan of Nottingham Forest, playmaker James Maddison of Leicester City, and center defender Micky van de Ven of Wolfsburg.
Johnson and the Empoli goalie Guglielmo Vicario. Dejan Kulusevski and Pedro Porro’s loans from the previous season were also extended to a permanent position.
On the other side were experienced Lucas Moura, former academy product Harry Winks (who finally severed ties with Everton), and several costly busts in Davinson Sanchez, Sergio Reguilon, and Tanguy Ndombele. However, when it came to departures, the only story that really mattered was the drama surrounding Kane’s eventual €95 million transfer to Bayern Munich.
There was a lot of curiosity about how Tottenham would perform without Kane because the team has relied so heavily on the forward for a long time, along with Postecoglou, who is a relative unknown in European football circles. As it happens, not too bad at all. The club started a fantastic run of eight league wins out of nine after a draw away at Brentford, with a commendable 2-2 draw against Arsenal serving as the lone setback at the Emirates Stadium. The majority of the wins were predictable, but two stand out: a home victory over Liverpool and an early-season victory against Manchester United.
Sean Dyche will have to decide whether to stick with his preferred back four or try the back three that defeated Burnley last weekend away from home. It’s obvious if Mykolenko can get things started. If not, both options require utilizing players in unfamiliar positions, such as Dwight McNeil at wingback or Ben Godfrey or Jarrad Branthwaite as traditional left backs. Limiting factors exist for both offensive and defensive strategies.
The other main question, if Dyche goes with any sort of 4-4-1-1, is who will take Doucoure’s spot in the attacking midfield position? What the Malian offers cannot be duplicated by any substitute.
Last Saturday, the Blues midfield, which is arranged in a four-man line for defense, appeared strong and adaptable enough to go close enough to the striker to provide support. After leading Burnley by two goals by the 25th minute, Everton essentially stopped attacking, indicating that their offensive method may be more effective than the raw data indicates.
A few weeks ago, I would have expected Everton to pull off an upset, but the hosts have now regained some confidence, and the Blues are beginning to show signs of exhaustion from their rigorous schedule. Although I believe Spurs may have a bit too much firepower, the visitors still have a chance to steal a draw.
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Everton is the prediction.
