MY ACCOUNT
– Everton have won three of their four home games under Sean Dyche
– Spurs have lost four of their last five away games in all competitions
– Recommended bet: Everton Draw No Bet
After correctly predicting that Aston Villa would get something from their trip to Chelsea, Simon Barlow takes a look at Monday’s clash between Everton and Tottenham, and is expecting a similar result for the underdog.
Tottenham’s tenure of the top four faces a stern test at Goodison Park on Monday evening when Everton look to move further clear of the drop zone.
Spurs parted company with Antonio Conte last week in the wake of his no-holds-barred press conference following the 3-3 draw at Southampton in which he was critical of the club’s culture and leadership.
Cristian Stellini is staying on as acting head coach for the remainder of the campaign to maintain some aspect of continuity, but how much damage was done by Tottenham tossing away two crucial points will only be known at the end of the season.
Everton showed their appetite for the fight by coming from behind twice to earn a point at Chelsea and will aim to maintain the fortress-like feel they have begun to establish about Goodison park.
Team news
In his pre-match press conference, Sean Dyche revealed Dominic Calvert-Lewin is “back on the grass” but that the England striker has yet to return to full training with the group.
The Everton boss reported no other major concerns around his squad, which suggests he could field a similar line-up to the one that fought hard for the draw at Stamford Bridge.
Spurs have confirmed that Emerson Royal suffered a meniscus injury to his left knee while on international duty with Brazil last week.
The defender will undergo surgery and will be out for around six weeks.
Longer-term absentees Yves Bissouma (ankle), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) have been joined in the treatment room by Ben Davies (hamstring) and Richarlison (muscle), who were both injured at Southampton.
But club captain Hugo Lloris made his return from a knee problem in a behind-closed-doors friendly during the international break
The stats
The Toffees have won three of their four league games at Goodison Park under Dyche, more than in their first 10 of the season under his predecessor Frank Lampard.
All three of those wins under Dyche have been by a 1-0 scoreline — as have seven of the past nine home league wins for Everton.
Spurs have now failed to win in five consecutive away games in all competitions in the same season for the first time since January 2020.
But the draw at St Mary’s at least meant they avoided losing four consecutive away games without scoring for the first time since January 1983.
Prediction
Conte told a few uncomfortable home truths in his final post-match press conference at Southampton and it will be interesting to see how the players he labelled “selfish” and “scared” respond.
Some sort of reaction seems likely, but it will nonetheless be no easy task for Spurs to break their cycle of awful away form against an Everton side scrapping for survival.
The Toffees have beaten a better team than Tottenham at home this term — their North London rivals Arsenal — and will attempt to use that same blueprint to achieve another backs-to-the-wall victory.
Another single-goal success looks highly likely given that is now Everton’s signature scoreline while Spurs have also lost three of their last four away games by that score.
If Conte’s eruption does elicit some sterner resistance from his former charges then a low-scoring draw is within Spurs’ grasp.
Back Everton Draw No Bet at 13/10 with LiveScore Bet.
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