Tottenham need to be on guard against Everton man Arnaut Danjuma, he has a point to prove
Arnaut Danjuma will be keen to prove to Tottenham that they made a mistake during his time at the club when Everton travel to north London this weekend.
Spurs will welcome Sean Dyche’s in-form Toffees to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a pre-festive Premier League clash on Saturday (23 December) in what promises to be a competitive encounter.
Everton are in fantastic form in the league, winning their past four matches on the bounce without conceding a goal, and will hope to extend that run when they take on a Tottenham team who will be without key players Yves Bissouma and Destiny Udogie.
Nonetheless, Dyche’s men have injury problems of their own, and they seemed to run out of steam on Tuesday 19 December as they were eliminated from the Carabao Cup at the Quarter-Final stage following a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Fulham after a 1-1 draw between the two sides at Goodison Park.
Spurs will be well rested after their 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Friday 15 December, and will look to captalise against a tired Everton side stretched thin at the moment.
With this in mind, Dyche could perhaps benefit by making some changes and bringing in fresh legs. One man who could be offered a rare start is winger Danjuma, who would certainly have a personal point to prove against Tottenham.
The Dutch international snubbed Everton to join Spurs on loan for the second half of the 2022/23 season but was hardly offered a kick of the ball, playing just 198 minutes of football for the club throughout his five months in the capital.
Danjuma finally linked up with the Toffees in the summer but hasn’t found much more success during his time on Merseyside. However, a game against a club that once undervalued him would certainly offer some much-needed motivation, and Dyche could therefore look to unleash the 26-year-old, who has shown his quality in moments this season.
Against Fulham, with Everton 1-0 down and chasing the game, Danjuma was introduced with 18 minutes of normal time left on the clock. The winger looked bright, completing 80 per cent of his passes, with one of those being key, registering two shots at goal and making an interception, while also scoring from the spot in the shootout (Sofascore).
This brief, but relatively impressive cameo appearance, could put Danjuma in the frame for a start at the weekend. His most recent Premier League start came during Everton’s 1-0 home defeat against Spurs’ north London rivals Arsenal back three months ago (17 September), throughout which he completed 88 per cent of his passes, with one of those being key.
Before this, he started and scored in the club’s 2-2 draw with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on 2 September, as Everton picked up their first point of the season. He was a handful against the Blades, playing one key pass, succeeding with his one dribble attempt and winning four of his five ground duels, while also missing one big chance in addition to his goal.
He has hardly featured since, and if Dyche wants to get his man firing again and increase the quality of options he has throughout his squad, this could be the perfect opportunity to get a tune out of Danjuma. Not only will the winger want to show Tottenham what they missed out on, but he will also want to demonstrate to Everton the player he can become.
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