Everton manager Brian Sørensen says that his side will not put any special emphasis on marking Martha Thomas when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
The forward is currently the Barclays Women’s Super League’s top scorer with six goals. Thomas has been in red-hot goalscoring form since joining the North Londoners in the summer, she has netted in all four league matches so far.
Everton will be hoping to become the first club this season to prevent Thomas from scoring but manager Sørensen says that his side will not give the forward any special treatment despite her impressive goal return.
“We look at them as a collective with the situations within our defensive organisation,” Sørensen said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “It’ll be transitional moments; a lot of the goals that she has scored have come from second balls from set-pieces or transitional goals, so we will need to be sharp there. Our attacking balance will have to be really good, so that we can deal with her.
“Like anyone the league, we can’t let them be one-on-one because their attacking players are so good. We need to defend in numbers and keep a strong defensive unit.
“We will deal with her as we do with all good attackers in the league but we will have to be tight this weekend.”
Spurs have been the surprise package in the opening weeks of the season. New head coach Robert Vilahamn has made an instant impact at the club, bringing an exciting brand of attacking football. Spurs will go into the game as favourites but Sørensen believes that his Everton side can match the North Londoners.
He said “They’ve been good. They’ve scored goals in the right moments in games and they’re full of confidence.
“Robert (Vilahamn) is a good coach and he gives his teams a lot of freedom to play.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge for us, they have a lot of confidence but I still think we can match them. It’ll be a tight and even game. We need to be at our best because they will have the confidence to go out and showcase themselves.”
Everton’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Tottenham Hotspur kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon.
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