Andros Townsend speaks about tactical battle ahead of Everton v Tottenham
Everton winger Andros Townsend has suggested that he expects Spurs to line up with three men at the back on Sunday.
He has issued a warning to Tottenham manager Antonio Conte that the Toffees are equipped to cope against teams that operate with a three-man defence.
The Blues are going through a poor run of form at the moment, and suffered their third Premier League defeat in a row when they lost 2-1 against Wolves on Molineux on Monday night.
The first half was very poor from the Toffees as they went 2-0 down. It appeared that they were struggling to cope against Wolves’ 3-4-2-1 formation.
Townsend expects Spurs to line-up with a three-man defence as well on Sunday.
“We know what went wrong in the first half. I’m sure we’ll work on that during the week to make sure that, if we do play against a three at the back again, which could possibly happen against Spurs on Sunday, we’re better equipped,” Townsend told Evertontv.
“We know how to adapt better, how to get out to them and put more pressure on the ball than we did tonight.”
Tactical battle
Benitez is known for his tactical acumen. He is obsessed with tactics, and it will be interesting to see how Everton fare against Conte’s side.
Conte, who has won Serie A and Premier League titles in his career already, used a 3-5-2 system during his time at Stamford Bridge, and there is a feeling that he could use the same formation at Spurs.
In the second half against Wolves, Benitez changed the system to 4-3-3 and it allowed two midfielders to get closer and the wingers to press their centre-halves. The performance improved as a result.
Could we see similar tactics from Everton once again?
Whatever it is, the Toffees must get a positive result from this game. With three defeats in a row, another loss at Goodison Park could spell the end of Benitez’s tenure at the club.
Everton are one point behind Spurs and one place lower than them in the table but it seems the players are confident of turning things around.
In other Everton news, Jamie Carragher slammed these Blues players on Sky Sports Monday Night Football v Wolves.