Paul Merson and Chris Sutton have disagreed as to whether or not Tottenham will defeat Everton. The Toffees are set to welcome Spurs to Goodison Park on Monday evening as Cristian Stellini looks to steady the ship following the departure of Antonio Conte.
The north London outfit parted company with the Italian earlier this week as they cling on to a place in the top four. Tottenham are two points clear of fifth-placed Newcastle but Eddie Howe's side have two games in hand.
With the Magpies breathing down Spurs' neck, Stellini will be desperate to snatch three points from Everton. However, Sean Dyche is currently leading a relegation survival mission in Merseyside and the Toffees have proven difficult to overturn.
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Everton head into the clash against Tottenham with plenty of confidence after clinching a draw against Chelsea just before the international break. Despite the Toffees' recent upturn in form, Merson has predicted Spurs to kickstart life without Conte in spectacular fashion.
In his latest column for Sportskeeda, the former Arsenal midfielder wrote: "The one thing I don't get about Antonio Conte's sacking is that his number two is in charge. I don't understand that at all.
"This is a hard game, and you'll know if the players are behind their manager this weekend. It's going to be a battle on Monday night - Everton will make it one. We'll see if Tottenham are up for it.
"If Tottenham can win this game, you'd hope that they can follow it up. I think they need to win their next three matches to make it to the top four. This is a big game for the players at the club. Harry Kane's future at Tottenham will be his call.
"He isn't guaranteed a trophy at a club like Manchester United - they went a long time without winning one. It depends on who Tottenham appoint as their next manager. I wouldn't be surprised if Kane stayed at the club. The lad deserves to take a call on what he wants.
"This game is a punter's nightmare. If Everton won, you wouldn't be shocked. If Tottenham won, you wouldn't be shocked. If this game was a draw, you definitely wouldn't be shocked. Tottenham can be lethal on the counter so believe it or not, I'm going to back Tottenham to win this game."
Writing for BBC Sport, Sutton wasn't so sure that Tottenham would waltz away victorious, predicting an Everton win. He said: "I ended up changing my mind three times about which way this one would go.
"It really is impossible to call. With Tottenham, this is where we find out whether they are better off without Antonio Conte, who had to go after his rant about his players and the club following their draw with Southampton.
"Spurs can't really expect a new manager bounce under acting head coach Cristian Stellini, who was Conte's number two, and I don't think we will see them doing too much very differently. Their inconsistency makes them so difficult to predict. Just looking at their attack, Son Heung-min has been poor all season, to the extent he apologised this week for letting Conte down.
"But then they've got Harry Kane, who can score from anywhere and could easily wallop a couple more in on Monday. This is huge for Spurs in terms of making the top four but Everton need the victory even more because they have one of the toughest run-ins of any of the teams down at the bottom.
"They have picked up a couple of away draws under Sean Dyche and are playing with more purpose now but they have still not won on the road since 1 October so their form at Goodison is going to be vital. It has to happen here, basically.
"We saw that desperation from them when they beat Brentford in their last home game and the intensity they showed to win that game might just get them over the line here too. Southampton absolutely dominated Spurs in Conte's last game in charge. I suspect Dyche has seen that and is thinking that Everton can really get at them as well."
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