Venue: White Hart Lane
Date: 05/03/2017
Kick-off: 13:30 (BST)
Match
Everton welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Goodison Park on Sunday and the match should prove to be an interesting one between two sides in very good form at the moment.
Everton extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to nine matches with a 2-0 victory over Sunderland and while the performance was not a vintage one, Ronald Koeman would surely have been pleased at his side’s ability to earn the three points from the clash.
Now the Toffees prepare for an encounter against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Sunday and if Koeman’s men are serious about earning a top four finish this season, earning a good result from the encounter will be of paramount importance.
Everton Team News
The likes of Muhamed Besic, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Yannick Bolasie remain long term absentees for Everton but Koeman does not have any fresh injury concerns to deal with ahead of the trip to North London this weekend.
The Dutch manager is likely to stick with his successful 4-3-2-1 formation rather than a 3-4-2-1 style to match Tottenham and this means that the backline of Leighton Baines, Ashley Williams, Ramiro Funes Mori and Seamus Coleman will be starting in front of goalkeeper Joel Robles.
In midfield the trio of Idrissa Gueye, Morgan Schneiderlin and Tom Davies have performed fantastically and the trio should keep out James McCarthy and Gareth Barry from the starting lineup.
Ademola Lookman has been impressive so far and the youngster is expected to lineup on the opposite wing to Ross Barkley by beating off competition from the likes of Kevin Mirallas and Enner Valencia. Romelu Lukaku is in fine form at the moment and he will be key if Everton are to claim a result this weekend.
Probable Lineups
Tottenham Hotspur (Probable XI): Lloris; Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Walker; Dembele, Wanyama, Alli, Eriksen; Kane
Everton (Probable XI): Robles; Baines, Funes Mori, Williams, Coleman; Schneiderlin, Gueye, Davies, Barkley, Lookman; Lukaku
Last Meeting
28/12/2016 Southampton 1 – 4 Tottenham Hotspur
08/05/2016 Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 2 Southampton
Prediction
Everton and Tottenham have played out five draws in their last eight encounters but the telling point from the statistic is that the Toffees have failed to claim even a single victory over Spurs in those matches.
As a result, Everton will have to be considered underdogs heading into the clash on Sunday and in addition, Tottenham star Harry Kane has been in sensational form in recent times, scoring a stunning first half hattrick during the first half in the 4-0 victory over Stoke City. Both teams are in fine form though and given the closely matched nature of the two sets of teams, a score draw might well be on the cards from the encounter.
Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 1 Everton
