Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton could not come at a worse time for the Lilywhites, who have started experiencing a slump in form.
Following the injuries to James Maddison and Micky van de Ven, Ange Postecoglou has struggled to keep his team in shape.
Spurs started the season with so much promise, even grabbing the top spot and running away. Being chased and overtaken by Manchester City is nothing sad about, but up until matchday 11, they were the only unbeaten team in the league.
The two losses they faced on matchday 11 and 12 in the league, especially the disappointing 4-1 loss to Chelsea, have set the tone for the Australian manager’s struggles to find proper solutions to. Coming up against an Everton side experiencing a change in fortune could do more harm than good.
For the team from Merseyside, a loss on matchday 18 may only do a little to alter the course of their season. Sean Dyche’s appointment as the Toffees manager a few months ago was not for title-winning purposes but for realignment purposes.
The Englishman built a reputation in English football management as a handyman type of manager who could help to rebuild teams and get them competing again by any means necessary.
Everton’s fall off in recent seasons has been glaring but Dyche is slowly putting those days behind the club. While they have lost a lot more than they have won this season, their wins have come against the run of play and have defied every prediction. Everton games are now one of the hardest to predict.
This is why Postecoglou will be quaking in his boots.
The former Glasgow Celtic manager has his work cut out for him without two critical players in Maddison and van de Ven when Everton line up at the club’s North London ground. Fans will expect a lot and witness it in the stands.
Read on for match ticket information, team news and our predictions on the match’s outcome.
Match tickets
Information on securing Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton tickets on Tottenham Hotspur’s website is available for the club’s fans.
There are limited tickets, however, so it is first come, first serve.
Also, the opportunity to buy Tottenham Hotspur tickets for the game will be first offered to club members and not just match-going fans. This is the club’s way of getting increased subscriptions to various packages.
Everton tickets for the game are not yet available, but members will get prime access when they are.
Neutrals are best served by purchasing from trusted ticket resellers like Seatsnet.com.
Fans at home can catch the game live on various streaming platforms. Fans outside the UK can see the game on their region’s approved Premier League broadcast partners.
Streaming is also an option. A subscription to streaming apps and channels is needed to access the game.
The game will be played on 23 November 2023 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The kickoff time is 4 PM UTC.
Team news
Spurs have been dealing with a lengthy injury list before van de Ven and Maddison were included. Both players are now ruled out until late December, which means they will miss the Everton game. Rodrigo Bentancur had recovered, played some minutes, and then relapsed. His fitness is still closely monitored despite being given the medical green light. His inclusion in the squad list for Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton is still being determined.Â
Ryan Sessegnon is back to training and will be a good addition for Spurs in this busy run, so fans can expect to see him in the squad list for the Everton game. Postecoglou is indeed spread thin against Everton, so this game could not come at a worse time for him.
Seamus Coleman, Dele Alli and André Gomes were the only Everton players injured for a while. They have been back in training for the past two weeks, boosting Dyche. Their inclusion for the trip to North London is uncertain. Still, they will be significant additions for the tough run of games in December that the unfriendly Premier League calendar has imposed upon its participating teams. One player who the team’s medical officials will be paying close attention to is Abdoulaye Doucoure, who has not missed a single game for Dyche. The Malian is also leading the team in minutes played (for outfielders) and they will hate to have him sidelined in January.
Lineups
Spurs have played in a 4-3-3 since Maddison’s injury and will play with the same formation for Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton. Brennan Johnson will continue to deputise for Richarlison down the left as captain Heung-Min Son is now the team’s centre forward for tactical reasons. Giovanni Lo Celso could join the starting lineup alongside Pape Mata Sarr and Yves Bissouma. Eric Dier and Cristian Romero will hold down the centreback role.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario; Udogie, Dier, Romero, Porro; Sarr, Bissouma, Lo Celso; Johnson, Son, Kulusevski.
Everton and their 4-4-1-1 have made 17 appearances so far this season, and anyone who knows Dyche knows he is not one to change systems often. Doucoure, if declared fit for the game, will play behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Behind the Malian will be Dwight McNeil, Amadou Onana, James Garner and Jack Harrison. 21-year-old Jarrad Branthwaite has since become the first-choice centre-back. He will play alongside the experienced James Tarkowski. Ashley Young could be given a rest for team captain Seamus Coleman in the game.
Everton: Pickford; Mykolenko, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Coleman; McNeil, Onana, Garner, Harrison; Doucoure; Calvert-Lewin.
Prediction
Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton will be a match that will be won in the middle of the park. Although Dyche likes to cut short the time his midfielders spend on the ball, preferring to use them as extra defenders, Spurs will force them into a midfield battle. Whoever comes out on top will have the upper hand, and the rest will be up to the chances they create. In this case, the Spurs also have the upper hand, meaning that Everton will be forced to sit deep and defend for long periods in the match.
Their counterattacks will be something to watch out for, and with the threat of Doucoure, things could get complicated for the North London side. However, they will take this game narrowly because of a better overall team and form.
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Everton
