Big Match Breakdown: Tottenham Hotspur v Everton
Published:
Spurs haven’t lost this fixture since 2012
Tottenham Hotspur continue their push for a top-four spot against Sam Allardyce’s Toffees in Saturday’s evening Premier League clash.
The hosts head into this game on the back of 10 points from their last four Prem games. As for the Toffees, they’ve struggled in recent weeks, following a good start under Big Sam.
With Spurs pushing for a Champions League berth, and Everton looking to arrest their dip in form, the Coral News Team reckon this could prove a significant game.
Here’s this evening’s Big Match Breakdown.
Head-to-Head
Tottenham have dominated this fixture in recent years. The North London club haven’t lost in 10 meetings, winning five of those.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men took four points off Everton last season, before recording a 3-0 victory in September 2017 – the biggest margin of victory in this game since 2005.
While it doesn’t tend to be a goal-filled fixture, both teams have netted in three of the last four meetings.
Likely XIs
Everton’s best success under Allardyce has come when they’ve gone with a 4-3-2-1 set-up. Against a pacy Spurs side, Cuco Martina and talented youngster Jonjoe Kenny are likely to feature on the flanks.
Coming forward, the likes of former Spurs man Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Rooney could be dangerous – while new signing Cenk Tosun could make his debut up front.
The hosts have also gone with a 4-2-3-1 in five of their last seven games. The fit-again Victor Wanyama is likely to partner Mousa Dembele in a powerful defensive midfield duo.
Meanwhile, the tried-and-tested trio of Son Heung-min, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen are likely to sit just behind prolific hitman Harry Kane.
Key Battles
The Toffees must find a way to break down Tottenham’s tough midfield core, with the classy Sigurdsson and combative Rooney the best men to do so.
For Spurs, the pace of their likely attacking quartet could be used to best effect against an Everton side which generally contains the sluggish Ashley Williams.
Match Odds
It’s difficult to see past a Tottenham win at 1/4. However, those who think the hosts could slip up can back the Draw at 9/2 and an Everton victory at 12/1.
The Merseysiders are generally good for a goal on their travels, scoring in seven of their last eight away games. With Tottenham also good in front of goal, Both Teams to Score looks good value at 6/5, while Over 3.5 Goals is a 33/20 shot.
When Spurs do win, they tend to do so in style. Each of their last seven victories have come by a multiple-goal margin. And five of those have been secured with a three-goal cushion.
The Tottenham -1 handicap is backable at 4/5, but the Coral News Team prefer Tottenham -2 at odds of 29/10.
The hosts’ Harry Kane is the man most likely to Score Anytime, at 23/10. But with a brace or hat-trick in four of his last eight games, the best call could be Kane to Score 2 or More Goals at 23/10.
Meanwhile, Everton’s Wayne Rooney has scored 11 times in 21 meetings against Tottenham. He’s 7/2 in the Anytime Scorer market.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
