Everton and Tottenham kick off their Premier League season at Goodison Park on Saturday, with the home side hoping for a much better season under new manager Ronald Koeman. Tottenham have their own hopes of improvement, even though last season's third-place finish was quite an achievement for the club. They could have finished second though, but rivals Arsenal beat them to the runner-up spot by just one point. Everton have not won against Tottenham since December 2012, that's seven matches without a win.
Ronald Koeman led Southampton to a solid sixth-place finish, but decided to take a new challenge at Everton. Just a few days before the opening match of the season they secured the signing of Swansea defender Ashley Williams, the man who has the task of replacing John Stones, who was sold to Manchester City for a record fee. The Toffees are lining up more transfers in the coming weeks, but they also have to clarify the future of star striker Romelu Lukaku. The Belgium striker is a doubt for this match due to a cut he sustained last week.
Tottenham had their best season in 26 years but losing the second place to Arsenal on the last day of the campaign must have hurt more than they would like to admit. The Spurs have signed central midfielder Victor Wanyama this summer, a much-needed addition of strength and stamina in the middle of the park for Mauricio Pochettino's team. A good result at Everton could give them confidence for the coming weeks.
Probable line-ups:
Everton: Stekelenburg - Coleman, Jagielka, Funes Mori, Baines - McCarthy, Gueye - Cleverley, Barkley, Mirallas - Deulofeu
Tottenham: Lloris - Walker, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Rose - Dier, Wanyama - Lamela, Eriksen, Alli - Kane
My prediction: 2-2 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Everton win - 3.20
Draw - 3.40
Tottenham win - 2.40
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Comments (1)
sharpe
08/31/16, 06:08:38 PM
You were close there with your prediction Johnny : ) Didn't have the chance to watch that one but obviously it was decent start of the season for both teams....
You were close there with your prediction Johnny : ) Didn't have the chance to watch that one but obviously it was decent start of the season for both teams. Tottenham sets very high standard last season so would be almost impossible for them to beat that, all the early signs showing that. It's other way round for Everton which had so poor season last time that almost every performance this one would it be improvement.
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