Tottenham vs Everton: Match Preview | Toffees look to make it five PL wins on the spin

Everton will look to bounce back from their Carabao Cup disappointment and make it five Premier League wins on the spin when they travel to Tottenham on Saturday.

Like most Evertonians I have been re-watching Amadou Onana’s penalty over and over in my head since Tuesday evening.

Sadly, the result is always the same.

It is an agonising moment and one to add to the long list of crushing Evertonian disappointments.

Onana doesn’t need telling that is was an awful penalty, he will know and has learnt a tough lesson.

What the players cannot do though is let it derail the progress they have made in the Premier League.

Four straight league wins without conceding, their best run for more than 20 years, has propelled the club out of the drop zone and on the fringes of mid-table.

That momentum and confidence will crucial as it is clear legs are starting to tire as the busy schedule takes hold on an already small squad.

There is the outside possibility of January enforcements but I wouldn’t bank on it given the club’s finances, meaning it is likely to be down to the current squad to see the team through the winter.

The opposition

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After a difficult 2022-23 campaign that saw them go through three managers Tottenham look a team revived and reborn under Ange Postecoglu.

The Australian’s bold tactics and relaxed demeanour in news conferences appears to be the perfect fit for the north London club, with the fans taking the former Celtic boss to their hearts.

Eight wins from their first 10 games lifted Spurs to the top of the table and raised hopes of a truly special season.

They have scored in 29 successive games and are the only Premier League side to have scored in every game this campaign.

Four defeats from five checked momentum, but they head into this game on the back of successive wins, with a certain Brazilian striker called Richarlison scoring three times.

Previous meeting

Everton 1-1 Tottenham, 3 April 2023

Photo by Emma Simpson – Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images

Everton picked up a precious point in their battle against the drop last April thanks to a Michael Keane howitzer in stoppage-time that cancelled out Harry Kane’s opener.

Kane had earlier gone down easily after being caught in the face by Abdoulaye Doucoure, leading to the midfielder being sent off and given a three-match ban.

Team news

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Vitaly Mykolenko is fit to return after missing Everton’s last two matches. That will likely see Michael Keane drop out and Jarrad Branthwaite move back into the middle after filling in on the left in midweek.

Seamus Coleman is rated as “touch and go” but Ashley Young and Abdoulaye Doucoure are almost certain to miss out.

What they said

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Everton manager Sean Dyche: “There was a lot of noise about the away form when I got here. We, collectively, [have changed that]. I think the mentality of it has improved significantly. I know I use that word a lot, but it has at all levels of the club.

“If you’re playing well and getting results, of course, there comes that little bit of freedom. That shoulders-back attitude to go to take games on. We’ve done a lot of collective work on that mentality. That home and away mentality and trying to find different ways of operating away from home.

“As a group, we decided we need to do better. We worked very hard during pre-season and early season. I thought we were playing well – really well – we just couldn’t score goals.

“We’ve changed that around and we are keeping clean sheets. We look stronger on the defensive side, although I thought we were pretty decent, anyway. But results change the perception. That’s the difference and it also adds to the belief of the group, but there has been so much work that has been done, and there is still more work to do.”

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Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglu: “It’s a tough game, they’re in good form. They’ve been pretty consistent all year, to be honest. If you take away the points deduction, they’d be right amongst it in terms of consistent teams this season.

“You know what you’re going to get. It’s going to be tough, they will work hard and they are very good at what they do. We’ll have to be up for it, but we’ve been pretty consistent ourselves. Obviously, our results have been better in the last two games, but, in general, our performances have been consistent. At home, we know if we play our football, we’ll be hard to beat.”

Final word

This actually has the makings of a fascinating contest and Everton can rightly be confident given their fine away record. I can’t help feeling this is may be just beyond them though.