We have a truncated weekend in the Premier League due to the FA Cup semi-finals, and the matches that are remaining are well spread out to avoid a clash with those Wembley contests, which means that we get underway on Friday night as Everton host Tottenham Hotspur.
This is a huge match in the race for sixth place and potentially higher if either team can finish with a flourish. You would think whoever loses this will miss out on Europe completely next season whereas the winners are very much part of the reckoning.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live on the Sky Sports Main Event and the Sky Sports Premier League channels. The build up begins at 7.30pm with the match itself kicking off at 8pm.
Everton
The project when Carlo Ancelotti took over at Everton was to establish them as a club who qualifies for Europe and then build them into one which can be regulars in the Champions League. He has made strides in achieving the former in terms of getting them into the Europa League next term, but recently they have started to feel the pinch and their form has suffered enough to question whether they will make it.
Goals have dried up a little in recent times for Everton which is clearly one concern but it isn’t as much of one as their home form, which is ordinary to say the least. If they are going to finish in the European places this season they need to finish well on home soil. Whether they are missing their fans or it is something other than that I’m not sure. It shouldn’t be the fans absence because they’ve been playing for 10 months without them and should be used to it by now.
Tottenham Hotspur
There hasn’t been much more consistency in the play of Tottenham Hotspur in recent times either and you get the sense that if they are beaten in this match their only route into Europe would be to win the Carabao Cup final next weekend. They won’t want to rely on beating a pretty rampant Manchester City side to get there though so although winning a trophy is important to Tottenham and makes next week huge, this isn’t exactly a nothing game.
Tottenham have tended to have this habit of responding well to difficult defeats this season so it will be interesting to see if they do that here after their second half humbling by Manchester United last weekend. We know that Spurs prefer to sit deep and play on the counter but if they are going to win this match they might need to be a little more proactive, although whether they are prepared to do that having conceded five on their last visit to Goodison Park in the FA Cup earlier in the season, remains to be seen.
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Team News
Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss this match which leaves Richarlison as the main goal threat. Yerry Mina is another who is out injured but the Toffees to have Allan and Andre Gomes back fit as well as Jordan Pickford.
Jose Mourinho remains without the injured pair of Ben Davies and Matt Doherty so Serge Aurier and Sergio Reguillon are expected to remain in the full-back positions. There is talk that Harry Kane could be saved for the final next week.
Betting
I can’t say that there is much about Tottenham Hotspur that I like but right now I like Everton even less. I took Everton to beat Brighton on Monday night and got extremely lucky to get away with a half win because there was just no goal threat in Everton whatsoever and if that doesn’t change here then they are going to be up against it. When you consider Everton are generally better on the road than they are at home, Monday’s performance is a real concern.
The other concern would be that here has only been four days in between the two matches which is less than ideal. Tottenham don’t convince me but squad wise they are better than Everton and they can play with a little more freedom given that they are on the road and most judges would expect them to target next weekend. If there is a winner in this match then I believe it is likely to be Tottenham, who simply have more match winners in their ranks at present.
Tips
Back Tottenham Hotspur to beat Everton for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
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