Everton v Spurs: Will the Toffees Come Unstuck?

by Matthew Harris · Published 31st October 2019 · Updated 23rd March 2020

Tottenham are on Merseyside for the second week in succession but Mauricio Pochettino’s men will be seeking a completely different outcome this time. Following last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, we now make the short trip across Stanley Park to take on Everton at Goodison Park.

It’s been a poor run for Spurs with just one point taken from the last three league games but can we start to turn it around at the struggling Toffees?

Date: November 3, 2019

Team News

Reports floating around on the Thursday before the game suggest that Giovani Lo Celso is ready to make his first start as a Spurs player. With Christian Eriksen starting to move towards the fringes and Dele Alli struggling for form, this would seem to be a logical move as long as the Argentinian is fully fit.

In terms of those who are definitely ruled out, Danny Rose is suspended while Hugo Lloris remains a long term injury absentee. We’ve seen no updates on Ryan Sessegnon so will assume that his Spurs debut has been pushed back for another week at least.

Elsewhere, Tanguy Ndombele will be looking for a start and while Ben Davies will presumably start at left back, many Spurs fans will be hoping for a change on the opposite flank where the woeful Serge Aurier has been starting for the last few weeks.

Match Odds

Spurs are the favourites here but only just: The away team are available at 17/11 with SportPesa and SportNation but with odds against numbers on all three possible outcomes, this is almost too close to call. Victory for Everton follows at best odds of 9/5 with Unibet and SportingBet while the draw completes the result betting at 27/11 with 10Bet.

Everton are in trouble under Marco Silva this season and are only just above the relegation spots. If Tottenham were in top form, we should be taking full advantage but no-one will back us with any great confidence right now.

Other Side Bets

Harry Kane

If you can’t call the result then you may prefer to just stay with the side markets for Sunday’s game. Harry Kane leads the way in the first goalscorer betting at a top price of 4/1 with Unibet and 888Sport while the same bookmakers follow up with three joint second favourites.

Everton’s Richarlison and Cenk Tosun are on offer at 13/2 with Unibet and 888Sport and they are joined on that figure by Son Heung-Min. The first goalscorer market continues to mix players from the two teams with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lucas Moura both at 7/1 with Unibet and 888Sport while former Spur Gylfi Sigurdsson is available at a best of 8/1 with Betway and Black Type.

One man to possibly keep an eye on is Giovani Lo Celso. We’ve mentioned him in our team round up and the Argentinian is quoted at 11/1 with Black Type to open the scoring.

In terms of our other, regular side bets, you can claim Both Teams to Score at a top price of 8/13 with William Hill and Red Zone. It’s a short option but may well be safe when you consider recent results for both sides.

Moving on to Total Goals and we think Over the 2.5 line should be another safe bet. This can be picked up at odds of 3/4 with Black Type and SportingBet but you may want to be braver and go above 3.5 at a top price of 2/1 with Unibet and 888Sport.

As for Correct Score betting, a drawn game is catching our eye at the moment and a 2-2 outcome would return a nice profit at 23/2 with SportingBet.

Dangerman

As we saw from the individual goalscorer betting, the bookies feel that Richarlison is going to be the main striking threat as far as Everton are concerned but do the stats back up the theory? The Brazilian scored against his old club Watford in Everton’s EFL Cup win in midweek and that took his tally to four from 12 across the season. It’s not exactly spectacular and two of those goals have come in the EFL Cup but he will always be a danger – albeit an inconsistent one.

Speaking of scoring against former clubs, the player that concerns us is Gylfi Sigurdsson. Always a threat from a set piece, the Icelandic international doesn’t appear to be a fans’ favourite on Goodison but he would be a concern for us.

Head to Head

This is a historic and long standing fixture with the two clubs first meeting back in 1904. Over time, Spurs and Everton have contested 177 games prior to Sunday and while we have the edge, the numbers are very tight.

Of those 177 matches, Everton have won 55 and there have been an identical number of draws. That leaves 67 victories for Spurs so the trends are good if the form isn’t. Recently, we’ve very much had the upper hand and are unbeaten in the last 13 matches – a run stretching back to 2012.

Verdict

There have been a number of draws in that unbeaten run and that’s the outcome that we keep coming back to. If you follow this column regularly then you’ll know that we rarely tip the result but a share of the points looks to be a logical punt at those 27/11 odds.

As for side bets, we’d like to see Giovani Lo Celso given a start and his early performances, prior to injury, suggest that he might just put an overdue smile back on our faces. Lo Celso hasn’t scored many across his career but 16 in 45 for Real Betis is a decent return for a midfielder and we’re happy to take 4/1 with Black Type for an anytime goal on Sunday.

If you want to play much safer, take the Both Teams to Score bet which seems highly likely based on what we’ve seen from these sides so far this season.