Tottenham at Everton FA Cup Fifth Round Preview, Prediction
By Aaron Coe
When Tottenham Hotspur take the field at Goodison Park it will be the teams fourth meeting in 16 months but the first FA Cup match since 1994-95. That 1994-95 match-up was a semi-final that saw Everton beat Spurs at White Hart Lane 1-4 on the way to the Toffees last trophy. This time the teams meet in the fifth round and both want to advance and achieve that elusive trophy that has evaded both clubs for so long. With a trip to the quarterfinals on the line anything can happen.
How Spurs and Toffees Got Here
Both teams entered the FA Cup in the third round in early January. Both teams have received a bit of luck in the draw up to this point, with neither having face another top flight team prior to this match-up.
Everton Rolling Thus Far
Everton won their two matches by a combined scored of 5-1 with a closer than they wanted win over Rotherham United in the third round followed by a roaring victory over Sheffield Wednesday 3-0. Everton have yet to leave home in the tournament and while Goodison Park has not been great to Everton this season, going 4-2-4 at home, they are unbeaten in this competition.
Spurs Crushing It Too
Tottenham have not exactly had a difficult path to get to this point in the competition. The match against Marine was more of a fundraising event for the non-league side and an exhibition for Tottenham. The Wycombe match was a bit closer in terms of both the score and the talent gap, but still did not fully test Tottenham. After 0-5 and 1-4 victories on the road thus far in the Cup Tottenham have reason to carry some confidence into the match.
Recent form of Tottenham and Everton
Everton went through a swoon similar to the one Tottenham has been on recently as well this season. Fortunately for the Toffees their three game losing streak was back in October and the team has had time to recover. Despite a number of injuries, just like Tottenham, Everton have been strong in 2021.
Through eight matches in all competitions in 2021, Everton are 4-2-2. At a rate of 1.8 points per match, Everton are right in the thick of things in the Premier League and rightfully believe they can win this competition too. Spurs can take some solace in the fact that both of Everton’s losses in 2021, the 0-1 loss to West Ham on New Year’s day and a 0-2 defeat to Newcastle a couple weeks ago were both in Merseyside.
Most recently Everton recovered a point after going into halftime down 2-0 at Old Trafford. That included a goal right at the half to make it 2 for United. Everton never quit and got the third to ie the match in the 95th minute. While Everton might be disappointed in some respects with the tie, having turned a sure loss into a point and fighting until the very end reflect the belief of this Everton side.
Tottenham have not quite been as fortunate in 2021. While Spurs record is not terrible in the calendar year at 6-1-3, the three straight losses in the middle of the string are tough to shake. After scoring 18 goals in the first six matches of the year to only score 1 in three games was quite alarming. However the return of Harry Kane and the club getting a shutout seems to have righted the ship for now.