Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton

I'll take 1-1 with anyone scoring. Little steps...

Hope I'm wrong but, if they score an early goal, this may not be pleasant viewing.

Probably more likelihood of me running a sub 20 min Parkrun tomorrow morning than Big Sam picking any sort of line up designed to cross the half-way line, but I suppose I could hide in the woods and miss out the first half-mile.

Kane scoring must be the banker basis of any accumulator tomorrow!! Ever the optimist!

"Everton face Tottenham at Wembley tomorrow and Sam Allardyce is speaking about Seamus Coleman's fitness.

"I think if I asked him now would he join the squad to face Spurs, he'd say 'Yes, I'm fit enough' but we have indicators to monitor if when he comes back his body is ready to face the challenges."

The boss adds that Micheal Keane is out with a bad gash on his foot.

That's likely to be some of the best news of the year, well the first bit is!

Admittedly, Schneiderlin has been a tad better these last few games; despite us losing, but I still am nervous with him in the side; wish we could move him on and get a proper general in midfield.

I hope if Cenk starts; he will have a decent debut, and preferably a scoring one; I hope also to see Lookman involved at some stage; he changed the dynamic at Anfield when he came on, albeit too late.

COYB

Pickford
Kenny Holgate Keane Martina
McCarthy Davies Sigurdsson
Lennon Calvert-Lewin Bolasie

Subs: Robles, Jagielka, Garbutt, Schneiderlin, Lookman, Rooney, Tosun.

I think this game would be too quick for Rooney & Schneiderlin, we'll need young Tom's energy and Lennon will be well up for this.

Looking stronger though considering no Williams, Sandro, Klaassen, Besic, or the injured lads are in my choice 18!

I would also like to see Garbutt on the bench if we can, and maybe a few minutes to sure up the left hand side ahead of a possible start v West Brom next week – though highly unlikely!

How can a player who performed well for us and was wanted elsewhere drop to such a low?

Our lack of attacking intent, against anyone, is killing it for me. I do not expect us to attack anymore, only to sit deep and defend and hope we get lucky. It's depressing viewing...

The only exception to this now is wanting to see if Tosun is any good; however, I expect him to be completely isolated in this game...

I don't see any way we will get a result at Spurs tomorrow that's not being negative just realistic. Everton don't win these type of fixtures and certainly not when we are playing as poorly as we are at present .

We also haven't beat Tottenham home or away since December 2012 so it's yet another serial bogey team.

However given the chance I personally would play Lookman, Vlasic or Calvert-Lewin out wide in place of Rooney and let Sigurdsson play central.

I'm surprised to hear we are in for Walcott; seems to me there are a couple of other positions need sorting first.

Tosun adds to Bolasie, Niasse and Lookman in particular.

Positive thinking everybody! Let's get on with it!

We need Sigurdsson in his best position against the top teams so I'd stick him central and have McCarthy and Davies sat behind. Tosun surely has to start.

Hopefully the club would check that they aren't holding a Monks Ball while he's there, otherwise the screaming might keep him awake.

He's fortunate enough to have come to play for a great club such as Everton, it would be most enlightening to see if he can show, right from the off, what he intends to do to reimburse the faith shown by management.

I would have Bolasie with Siggy just behind Tosun.

Holgate needs to start and if we can leave Kenny out all the better. He has been a liability in a few away games: Southampton, Leicester and Bournemouth.

Cross everything.

If Tosun is up for it, let's throw him in.

The season is over in January (in terms of positive things to play for, again); let's start building some understanding between players for next season.

We've got to start Tosun if he's fit to give everyone a lift. I think Calvert-Lewin would support him well and has the pace and height to help a counter-attack in combination with Kenny who he knows well.

Pickford
Kenny Holgate Jagielka Martina
McCarthy Gueye Sigurdsson
Calvert-Lewin Tosun Bolasie

I like one recent article suggesting Palace would consider swapping Van Aarnholt for Niasse. This would make a lot of sense.

As for Saturday's team. I have confidence in Allardyce's choice. I presume he has now seen the team enough both in games and in practice. I just hope we get as much luck as West Ham did in Spurs last home game.

Joking aside, sometimes the weirdest results can happen when you least expect it. With Bolasie finding his feet again and the addition of Tosun, Everton may just be a better team offensively.

The kiss of death is always when you hope for an upset but it goes right out the window when they concede early on. The defence is a real problem and when you have someone like Harry Kane up against you it's difficult to keep him under wraps for 90 minutes.

Keane is injured which for me is not a problem as he has been our worst CB this season and, although Jags performed heroically in the derby I like the Williams Holgate combination more so a back 4 of Kenny Holgate Williams Martina.

Defensive mids are questionable. if Gana is fit he is a sure starter for me and although I prefer McCarthy to Schneiderlin he is too similar to Gana in his positioning so may not be the best fit.

Lennon has complemented Kenny well this season and Sigurdsson has just started to hit form. We need Bolasie's pace and trickery and up front Tosun is a must.

I would like to see us keep it tight for the first half and frustrate the crowd then open up and get the winner second half.

I just hope the ref isn't conned by Alli falling when someone goes near him.

Easy on paper isn't it.

I rate him and think, with right players to play with, he will be a decent player!

Leave Kenny out for whom? He is one of the only plus points of the season.

Leaving Rooney on the bench will help the team, he might play better for the last 30 minutes. Watching him trying to play 90 mins lately has been sad for me, a really great player once, now struggling badly.

We will have to defend like lions to keep them out though, but we've done that a few times this season. So a positive result is possible.

Spurs 1, Everton 2 sounds good.

The little I saw of Tosun he's slower than Calvert-Lewin. How on earth he is going to score if we don't change our style of football I really don't know. We need a box to box midfield and a playmaker sitting in front of our defenders. Let's get Pirlo out of retirement.

2-1.

I hope and hope Tosun gets stuck in and ruffles up Spurs. No daft mistakes and giving Kane and Alli goals on a plate.

I'd start with Lookman or Vlasic and use Rooney as a sub but I sense Rooney will start and Vlasic or Lookman will be subs, either coming on again for Bolasie... 3-1 to us with a surprise performance!

Being optimistic but we have turned these over before so we'll be overdue tomorrow.

Maybe like when Moyes bought Krøldrup and (allegedly) discovered he couldn't head a ball?

He needs help on how to defend, but so do all the guys who are actually playing defence.

I feel the same way about Lookman. We have to be patient with all these younger players. They are probably far more nervous than we are. On second thoughts, I am not so sure.

Just watching the Blues this year is like standing on the edge of a cliff for 90 minutes. And many times I feel I have fallen off.

If Allardyce is going to make a success of things – as I very much hope he will – then he has to maintain a bright and upbeat front.

Mind you, Moshiri's less than ringing endorsement of Sam at the AGM was not designed to boost the managerial mood.

You have to say adding Lookman to this with Bolasie on a massive pitch feels like good a idea.

This could be enhanced by Tosun who is reputed to be physically adept and link play well. To keep up with them Sigurdsson seems to be the right choice, leaving Rooney splintered.

A very simple midfield of Gueye and McCarthy might work, but I fear the lack of a decent ball player flounders my plan. Schneiderlin too slow, Rooney like Barry as season or two again would get destroyed.

If Allardyce goes back to his self styled shithousery then he deserves the pelters he'll get.

Pickford
Martina
Kenny
Jagielka
Holgate

Gueye
McCarthy
Rooney

Sigurdsson
Bolasie
Tosun

We should also expose the younger players to a system that suits both the club and their own development. It's a shame that we have a dinosaur as manager who inspires little faith in being able to deliver this.

Notwithstanding this, we must set up to be both difficult to beat and to cause problems to the opposition. To achieve this, I'd set up like most teams do nowadays; back four, two energetic shields, four attackers including two quick wides and a No 10 behind the striker. With the personnel we have, I'd go for:

Pickford
Kenny, Holgate, Jagielka, Martina
Gueye, McCarthy
Lookman, Sigurdsson, Bolasie
Tosun

With Calvert-Lewin, Vlasic, Baningime etc available to come off the bench when starting 11 tire.

Returned home on same train as the players. It was a corridor train in those days. We went for a walk along the corridor and there in the compartments were the Everton players having a game of cards. We were invited in to meet our heroes.

Happy days.

Football should always be about what players or the team do out on the pitch, and although this is one of the most difficult games on our entire fixture list, I'm looking forward to seeing how we do, and also think we are massively overpriced at 9/1.

As for Allardyce's tactics, the fact is we have a moderate team with very little creativity at the moment, selling Lukaku and replacing him with Tosun sums the club up.

We are 14/1 to win tomorrow, while I don't fancy we will win 14/1 does seem like a very big price! Stranger things have happened.

So 2 by Tosun, and then he'll be baffled by the elder players asking him to pipe it down and go for just a one-goal defeat...

Nah! We can do this, and they don't expect us to try, I'd think!

Whomever plays at CB has to be on him like flies on shit.

Give Tosun the support he needs, hell bang them in. If we can do that, I think we can graft out a win. COYB. 3- 1.

Kenny
Holgate
Jagielka
Garbutt

Davies
Schneiderlin
Rooney

Bolasie
Tosun
Sigurdsson

Subs - Robles Williams Martina McCarthy Lennon Calvert-Lewin Niasse

This is the only lineup that could take anything out of the game. Should be playing Garbutt over Martina. Prediction is 2-1 Tottenham – Hope I'm wrong. COYB

He needs game time, lots of it, and what better place to make his debut than Wembley? He'll be well fired up to show his abilities on a stage like that.

Pickford
Kenny Holgate Williams Martina
Idrissa McCarthy
Bolasie Rooney(c) Sigurdsson
Calvert-Lewin

Robles, Jagielka, Coleman, Schneiderlin, Davies, Lookman, Tosun

Tosun & Lookman off the bench. Hoping that Coleman gets on the bench too.

As much as I'd like Tosun to start, giving him 30 minutes against a slightly more tired opposition seems the best option, and then starting the next game.

0-0 would be a very good result, don't knock it.

Real Madrid lost 3-1 there.

Agreed. Holgate is probably the best central defender in the Premier League for his age. Why some managers play him at full-back is beyond me. I've rated him since I first saw him a couple of seasons back.

Immense talent... let's hope he doesn't get the same treatment as Stones got. Plenty of people slagged him off. Now Pep reckons he has the best centre-half in the game.

I like the idea of Lookman, Tosun and Bolasie up front with Sigurdsson as No 10 with two defensive midfielders behind. Maybe we'll play this formation once we have Walcott in, instead of Lookman.

Pity the fans in this country didn't make a stand against Friday and Monday and Saturday night games. Without full stadiums, Sky have got nothing to sell. I wish the fans would realize the power that we have about time we exercised that power. Sky are only interested in the armchair viewers and not the proper match-going fans.

Everton do have problems at the back where Holgate hasn't really established himself as a tough cookie.

With the aging Jags. and Williams it becomes an even bigger problem.

Keane is another young player who's form is questionable and the less said about Martina the better.

Despite the fact they have nothing to play for except pride I cannot see Everton starting this match any differently than they usuually do.

If they sit back then it could be a disaster with Erickson pulling the strings and the front two interchanging causing havoc.

Tosun may only start on the bench as Sam goes with the team that showed some promise against the RS.

Everton have to get Spurs out of their comfort zone by getting in some serious early attacks.

We need a box to box midfielder, this was Klassen's position for Ajax and was good at it, yet we have never played him in this position.

We have problems with goal scoring, Sandro was bought as a player with some pace who can cut in from wide areas or sit behind main striker and score goals, we have never played him in these positions properly.

It is also obvious that Sigurdssonplays far better when Rooney is not on the pitch and connects better with the rest of the team.

We have a left back who really struggles going forward and so the attacks down this side are too slow or break down, this has to be addressed.

Overall though my thoughts are play people where they are supposed to play and get the best out of them, this is one of the reasons we are where we are. These players also need time on the pitch, so if its not in the first team get them in the Under-23s and understanding a pattern of play.

Welcome to total football, only joking.

Midweek football has always been played even in the amateur leagues!

Anyway back to what really matters. Hopefully Tosun will be a revelation and will bag at least a brace today and bring us an unexpected win!

I will still be happy as long as Tosun shows us he has the quality to hold the ball up, win headers and the ability to have a decent shot on goal!! It's a big ask for him to produce on his debut at Wembley against a decent Spurs team bit fingers crossed he's the guy we've been waiting for!!

Up the Toffees!

Shallow bastards... it take 2 poor games to justify that!

They definitely won't expect that kind of ambition.

Holgate is the future; no a disaster waiting to happen.

Play Williams; no, Williams is finished.

Vlasic brings nothing; no, Vlasic causes mayhem.

Calvert-Lewin is second rate; Calvert-Lewin is a great young player. Kenny is no player, let's bring back a long term injured Coleman, Kenny is a big plus this season.

And so it goes on. Opinions is all it is as everyone sees different things during the game.

At the end of the day, the manager will pick a team to get something from this game and if we can indeed sneak a point, I'd be made up.

After the game, we can spend the next few days slagging Allardyce for everything including crap exchange rates and the weather.

Klaassen, I agree he hasn't been played as a box-to-box player and maybe needs another go. I don't think he will get that chance.

Sandro has been played enough to see he doesn't have the same time and space here to adapt his game.

Rooney and Sigurdsson can play on the same pitch. Although Siggy is better in the middle (all his goals come from the middle) and Rooney also better deeper and centre (as he is the only player we have that can play a pass over the top).

When Sam Allardyce came in, we played 4-3-3 then changed it to 4-5-1 and then 4-2-3-1. I've noticed we have played with more attacking players in recent games but we have to play on the front foot.

What we are in desperate need of is to pick up a LB (either a left back or a Leighton Baines) unless either Garbutt comes back into the squad or Galloway returns. I hope we show some ambition in this game and off the pitch by signing Walcott.

What a thought... that if you attack them, they have to defend instead of just throwing wave after wave of attack at your goal. I hope we at least try to attack today, otherwise what is the point?

Rooney should play at least 45 minutes in every game if possible he is our leading scorer in a side that struggles to score goals . We should judge him on what he is to us now not what he was 5 years ago he is still a great player just a different player.

Always a tough game for us away to Spurs. I would take another dire 0-0 and hold my nose for another week. Coming out of today without a loss would be a win almost . We'll be ready to carry the game to them next year. Maybe.

He will set up safety first as we did at Anfield in the league and try to nick something. It's desperately dull isn't it. Oh well. Up the toffees.

Let's be honest, there's nothing we can do about it but get behind him.

There was a piece in the Red Echo where he quite clearly recognizes and states the need to entertain as well as gain points. Worth reading.

What a good team Leicester are, equal to Chelsea. If they get nothing from this game, it will be a travesty

Scores so far just show how anyone can beat anyone in this league. We still need a few more points

Of course now the ref has completely screwed them and the viewers by sending a man off. What a travesty.