MY ACCOUNT
Tottenham will bid to maintain a terrific run of results in front of their own fans when they take on an Everton side looking to bounce back from a home defeat when they meet in North London.
Spurs’ solitary Premier League loss came to arch-rivals Arsenal, but Antonio Conte’s men have since regained the winning thread with back-to-back victories over Brighton and Eintracht Frankfurt.
However, they were made to sweat for the three points on Wednesday in Europe after Harry Kane’s uncharacteristic penalty miss.
Everton lost their status as the division’s best defence in Sunday’s 2-1 league loss to Manchester United, when they could not capitalise on the great start given to them by Alex Iwobi’s fifth-minute opener.
Frank Lampard’s side recorded just one shot and one touch in United’s box in the first half, but finished strongly by taking more shots in stoppage time than they had mustered before the 90 minutes expired.
Team news
Speaking after Spurs’ midweek Champions League win over Frankfurt, Conte hinted strongly at a likely return to the starting XI for Dejan Kulusevski this weekend.
The Swedish wide player has missed Tottenham’s last four games but could replace Richarlison, who Conte admitted has a minor problem with his knee.
Lucas Moura saw his first action since August on Wednesday and should boost the Italian’s bench options this weekend.
Ben Davies could be rotated back into Spurs’ three-man defence in place of Clement Lenglet, but no changes are expected in midfield.
Matt Doherty will come in at right wing-back to replace the suspended Emerson Royal against the Toffees, having assisted two goals against Lampard’s side in the corresponding fixture last season.
Ryan Sessegnon was rewarded for his impressive showing at Brighton with another start on Wednesday, but Ivan Perisic is due a recall and could get the nod over the younger player at left wing-back.
For Everton, Nathan Patterson is still two or three weeks away from making a comeback and the timescale of Ben Godfrey’s return remains after the upcoming World Cup.
Abdoulaye Doucoure is available again after a family issue kept him out of the United game, but Yerry Mina’s return has been put back because of a small calf injury.
Mason Holgate has returned to training and pushing for a recall after recovering from the knee injury he sustained during the draw with Brentford in August.
Lampard may, however, make only one enforced change to the side that lost at Goodison Park last Sunday with Dwight McNeil in line to replace suspended winger Anthony Gordon.
The stats
Kane has missed two of his last four penalties for Tottenham, having scored 21 successive spot-kicks for the club before that.
The England skipper has scored four Premier League headers this season with Spurs’ eight in total three clear of the club with the next most headed goals (Fulham).
Idrissa Gueye’s loss of possession in the lead-up to Antony’s goal for United was his first-ever error directly leading to a goal in over 100 Premier League appearances for Everton.
Prediction
Tottenham’s superb home record since they thrashed Everton 5-0 in March of last season makes them hard to oppose, even if Conte’s side are showing some signs of tiredness.
Spurs have won 12 of their last 13 games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, leading at half-time in eight of those, which does hint at some value in the 21/20 available for the hosts to be ahead at the interval and the final whistle.
The Toffees are unbeaten in their last three away games, winning at Southampton on their last road trip. But away wins have been few and far between for them under Lampard and this task looks like being beyond them.
Everton have scored in six of their last seven Premier League away games, however, and could do some minor damage to a Spurs defence that has shipped nine goals in the last six outings.
