TOTTENHAM host Everton on Monday Night Football from the Premier League. Chris Clark (@ChrisClark1975) shares his verdict.
Tottenham vs Everton | Monday 7th March 2022, 20:00 | Sky Sports
The maddeningly inconsistent Tottenham round off the Premier League weekend by entertaining Frank Lampard's Everton on Monday night.
Spurs haven't played at home since losing twice in four days to Wolves and Southampton. The last four away games has summed Tottenham up. Since they reached the Champions League final in 2019, it's a case of one step forward, one step back. The club has been in a state of flux since, and it doesn't matter who the manager is.
Pochettino had to leave. Mourinho was a bad fit. Nuno, well as a Spurs fan, I like to think that whole Nuno period was a bad dream. Conte meanwhile gives the air of a man, who didn't do his homework before taking on the Tottenham job. He'll probably leave in the summer in a huff, when he realises that the chairman won't give him a blank chequebook.
Anyway back to those four games since Spurs last played at home. They were tremendous away to Man City, finally looking like a Spurs side who were challenging for top honours under Pochettino. Then they wilted at Burnley, but bounced back against Leeds with another strong performance. Don't get me started on the cup defeat at Boro. That was a team who slept-walked to defeat. It was disgusting.
Therefore, I'm trying to look at this game objectively. Spurs owe their fans a performance, and it's handy that Everton are managed by Lampard. There is no love lost between Spurs supporters and Mr Lampard. The feeling is probably mutual.
Everton have the worst away record in the Premier League and Lampard hasn't managed to turn that around in his short period in charge of the Toffees. They were woeful away to Southampton last time out and Everton only have six away points all season, the worst in the Premier League.
Spurs now only have the forlorn chase for 4th place to go for, and they need to keep pace with Arsenal until the two sides meet later in the season. As mentioned, Spurs will look to score early on Monday evening, and then look to pick Everton off on the break.
It's not ideal for a home side to play like that, but it suits Spurs' current batch of players. They don't have much creativity in the centre of midfield. Spurs to score in both halves is 7/5 with BoyleSports, and that looks a good price on how I see the game playing out.
One style of Conte's play is the reliance on the wing backs to be the most creative players in the team. Ryan Sessegnon set up Matt Doherty last time out in the league, and both wing backs are always an outlet out wide for Spurs in attacking areas.
Matt Doherty seems to have won the battle for the right wing back slot, by not being as bad as Emerson Royal, and the former Wolves man is 5/1 for an anytime assist with Betfair. Sessegnon is 13/5 with the same firm. I would plump for Doherty out of the two as I'm not convinced with Everton's left back options and Doherty will have plenty of opportunities to whip a cross in for Kane or Son.
Best Bets
Tottenham vs Everton – Tottenham to score in both halves (7/5 BoyleSports)
Tottenham vs Everton – Matt Doherty anytime assist (5/1 Betfair)
