Everton are back in action tonight as they host Tottenham Hotspur in the fifth round of the FA Cup, with a quarter-final place up for grabs.
The Toffees picked up a 3-3 draw at Manchester United on Saturday night, and now need to take some momentum into tonight’s game.
Carlo Ancelotti would love to beat Jose Mourinho again having picked up a 1-0 win at Spurs back in September, and the Spurs boss actually offered up some praise to an Everton player on Tuesday.
Mourinho told Football.London that he thinks Allan is a ‘great player’, just like James Rodriguez, pointing out that they chose to join Everton because they had worked with Ancelotti at other clubs.
The 30-year-old joined from Napoli in a £21million move, and has been a key addition for the Toffees as a relentless, energetic midfielder.
Allan was outstanding against Spurs in September, but hasn’t played since the 2-0 win at Leicester City back in December having picked up a hamstring injury.
Mourinho may well rate him highly, but he will be glad with the news emerging from Goodison Park as it seems that Allan won’t be involved tonight.
Ancelotti has told the Liverpool Echo that Allan isn’t ready yet, but does hope that he will be available to face Fulham this weekend.
“Allan started with the team last week, he’s not ready yet,” said Ancelotti. “I hope that he will be ready next game,” he added.
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