Antonio Conte delivers verdict on Everton ahead of Tottenham Hotspur clash
Antonio Conte has issued his thoughts on the current Everton side ahead of his first Premier League game as Tottenham Hotspur manager.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, in a video relayed via Football Daily on Twitter, the Italian reserved some warm words for the Blues.
“I remember that I lost my last game in the Premier League against [Rafa] Benitez,” Conte said. “For sure, our expectation is to have a tough game because Everton are a really good team, Goodison Park is not an easy place to play. But at the same time, we want to show that we want to improve our results, but it won’t be easy.”
Has he been watching?
Conte must have stopped watching Everton after the first few games of the season because on recent showings, it is hard to say with a straight face that the Blues are a “really good team”.
After a brilliant start to the season that saw them remain undefeated in Benitez’s first five games of the season, they have now lost five of their last seven games in all competitions, including a penalty shoot-out defeat to QPR in the League Cup.
The Blues have been decimated by injuries with the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Yerry Mina proving to be huge misses.
In their absences, the likes of Salomon Rondon, Tom Davies and Mason Holgate have failed to replicate their efforts or manage to get anywhere near their levels, and that has seen the whole team’s performance suffer as a result.
Spurs should be full of confidence at Goodison Park on Sunday after the appointment of Conte this week, but Thursday night’s 3-2 win over Vitesse in the Europa Conference League highlighted their own vulnerabilities at the back, even with Conte in charge.
In other Everton news, this injured Blues ace is set for an extended absence after a behind-the-scenes order.
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