Paul Merson predicts tight result as Everton travel to Tottenham on Saturday
Paul Merson has predicted a narrow defeat for Everton when they travel to Antonio Conte’s Tottenham side on Saturday evening.
The Toffees’ impressive unbeaten run was broken by Manchester United at Goodison Park on Sunday (9 October) where the visitors won 2-1, and Sky Sports pundit Merson reckons it will be the same score again in London.
In his weekly Sportskeeda predictions column he didn’t even mention Everton but said: “Tottenham have stepped up this month and should be able to win this Premier League game.”
Spurs are currently third in the table after a good start to the season, although their form has become more inconsistent recently, including a fairly comprehensive defeat by Arsenal in the North London derby on 1 October.
Everton meanwhile are 12th after the loss at the weekend, but are still a marked distance better than they were at the end of last season where relegation was only avoided late on.
Frank Lampard did have his side unbeaten in six and had recorded back to back wins before playing United, but faces two difficult away trips on the bounce now, with Newcastle on Wednesday (19 October) after Spurs (15 October).
Challenge
Since one defeat in seven has suddenly seen the question of how long Lampard’s job will last re-appear, there won’t be many outside of Merseyside who expect his team to get anything from this game.
It will be a tough task considering the firepower Spurs possess, which notably includes former Goodison star Richarlison who will be facing his former side for the first time.
But the Toffees didn’t lose to Cristiano Ronaldo and company because they are poor, but because they turned in a much flatter performance than they have shown they are capable of.
The last three goals that Everton have conceded have all come from being caught in possession in the midfield and hit on the counter, so their chances will improve greatly if those errors can be cut out.
Two of those have come from Idrissa Gueye, as he looks to be taking a bit of time to reacclimatise back to the pace of the Premier League, but the other was from Alex Iwobi who has otherwise been key and is in line for a new contract.
A 2-1 loss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium wouldn’t be a total disaster, and it wouldn’t be a shock to Toffees fans to see them get a result.
But as long as a miserable thrashing like the one that occurred in this fixture last season is avoided it will be an improvement, in what is still a developing team under Lampard.