Round 2 – Sweet, unexpected Toffees
By David, BettingExpert.com | Edited
Before their weekend FA Cup triumphs the two teams did not share the same fate in the last Premier League encounter with Tottenham recording their seventh home victory of the season and Everton succumbing to a home defeat for the fourth time this season. They meet in midweek to recover a match they had missed at the start of the campaign.
Tottenham – Everton
Games like this are often dangerous. Very hard to predict given the really bad timing for the clubs. Both could have rested their main players over the weekend though given it was much weaker sides from lower divisions that they were up against. Cheltenham for Tottenham and Tamworth for Everton.
Both sides succeeded in going through but it was Moyes who looked like caring more for safe passage through as Redknapp fielded a completely changed starting eleven. His counterpart David Moyes gave rare starts to Gueye, Anichebe and McFadden but otherwise his team looked very familiar to that fielded on any Premier League weekend.
Everton have as usual started their season slowly and it is usually at this time of the year that they start picking up form. Nonetheless their last match saw them lose out at Goodison Park against what was at the time the bottom team in standings, Bolton. The Trotters had been disappointing all throughout but they took advantage of a still uncertain Everton side. Moyes has often lamented the availability of a striker who can kill off their chances upfront. With the arrival of Donovan they should not need to rely on goals from their goalkeeper to break the deadlock, just as happened in their last match with Howard grabbing their only goal.
With Spurs up there in the table and now with the chance to go joint second with Manchester United one would think they ought to be able to dispose of Everton easily. Their home record would further corroborate that. 7-1-1 with their only defeat coming against leaders Manchester City. The draw came three weeks ago against Chelsea in a match they could have won.
Nonetheless, Redknapp’s team has been dipping in form lately. In their last six matches they have scored more than one goal only once despite all their potential up there. That was against Norwich’s weak defence and although it was more than one goal they did not go that far, 0-2 at Carrow Road.
Everton will be expected to put up a solid wall. One which the recent Tottenham we have seen will sweat to bring down. West Bromwich were quite capable at running back at Spurs on the counter attack less than ten days ago. Everton may well resort to that with the likes of Drenthe and Donovan providing the necessary speed and ability to finalize.
Sandro and Gallas will be out for a while so they leave some formation problems for Redknapp, who also needs to assess doubts related to the fitness of Parker and the usual King.
Verdict: Everton +0.25
With Donovan in attack Everton may prove less goal-shy whilst Tottenham’s run has been too disappointing to consider them a real threat in attack. Everton may not rush into this match knowing that Tottenham will but that means Spurs will leave themselves exposed just like they did against West Bromwich. An Under bet looks like value here but the way Tottenham have been playing lately may suggest there could be a surprise here so I’m going for the Toffees to shock White Hart Lane.
Obscure Stat 1 - Over the last 6 Premier League seasons, when a home club positioned between 2nd and 4th on the table has hosted a club positioned between 10th and 12th, from this point in the season onwards, they have not lost, with 19 wins and 4 draws in 23 matches played.
Obscure Stat 2 - Over the last 6 Premier League seasons, when Everton have played away to clubs positioned between 2nd and 4th on the table, they have lost 56% of 18 matches played. Over the same span, when Spurs have hosted a club positioned between 10th and 12th, they have won 60% of 15 matches played.
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