Tottenham vs Everton preview: Early indicator of who wants European football next season
Ever since Gareth Bale left Tottenham for Real Madrid in the summer of 2013, Spurs have been through a continuous transition period. They have never played outstanding football and many have said they'd had better off Bale still at the team. In my opinion, Spurs have only bought one good player who can create chances consistently with the £85 million they banked from Bale. That player is ex-Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen, who scored the winner last week against Hull City to give Spurs a much needed three points after a shaky run (which saw them slump to a 2-1 defeat at home to Stoke two weeks ago). A few teams have taken a while to climate to this season's unpredictably but Spurs never seem to make an opposition fear them. This will be the case when Everton visit White Hart lane later today, as the Toffees will want to continue a run that has seen them go unbeaten in eight games, in all competitions.
From this game, I can expect both teams to be slightly cautious as to how they keep possession for potential attacks. This game is an early indicator of who wants European football for next season, as both managers will most likely have set that as their primary objectives. The source of who will gain the three points will be from the defence. Everton didn't have a great defensive start to their Premier league campaign, the highlight being the 6-3 defeat to Chelsea at home, and had to take time to gain confidence in their back four again. Yes, there are moments when the Everton defence is clear about what they are planning and sometimes suffer a stupid goal. However, Spurs fans will be more worried about keeping a clean sheet than Everton, as the Londoners have kept one clean sheet in the last ten Premier league matches. They will also want to avoid a third straight home defeat, having happened in May to August of 2008. Everton have only conceded three goals in their current unbeaten run, which reflects the hard work put in by Roberto Martinez to close up the ever-so open gaps in the Toffees defence. This game will be decided on the basis of who wants the three points more than the opposition, to move into the top seven.
The last time Martinez and Pochettino met, Everton lost 2-0 to Southampton at St Mary's to surrender fourth spot to Arsenal.
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