Everton v Tottenham Hotspur Premier League preview

Everton host Tottenham in the final game of this weekend’s Premier League action. Both teams were expected to be battling for a Europa League place this season, but Everton’s slow start sees them in 16th at the start of the weekend, while Tottenham are exceeding expectations by currently placing 3rd.

Everton

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov scored the only goal in Athens as Everton ensured qualification to the knockout stages of the Europa League with a 1-0 victory. The Russian winger has played well for Everton recently as he aims to help move the injury-plagued side away from relegation. This will be another tough game for the Toffees as they face an in-form Spurs. 3 straight league defeats, conceding 8 in the process including 3 in the first half hour at Hull. David Moyes’ side are really struggling at the back without Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka, and the added protection of Phil Neville. None of those have been replaced and seemingly cannot with the current crop of players. Both players may return shortly after Christmas, but certainly won’t be available for this match or Chelsea next week; consecutive games against 2 of the top 3 scoring teams. Stay clear of Everton defenders in your fantasy football team for now!

Form
DWLLL

Injuries/Suspensions
John Heitinga (suspended)
Sylvain Distin
James Vaughan
Phil Neville
Victor Anichebe
Phil Jagielka
Mikel Arteta

Tottenham Hotspur

Michael Dawson earned Tottenham a point at Aston Villa last weekend in a game they were fortunate not to win. Dawson had missed a great chance earlier, as did Tom Huddlestone before Jermain Defoe had his disallowed after he decided to control the ball with his hand instead of his head. Spurs have picked up 7 points from their 3 games since taking a thrashing at Arsenal, but are above the Gunners after gaining 4 points on them over the past 2 games. They put up a dire performance at Old Trafford midweek in their Carling Cup exit to Manchester United that left manager Harry Redknapp having a cheap shot at the atmosphere. You can’t argue with their performances in the league of late and they have a good chance of taking 3 points here with the number of players missing from the Everton squad leaving them fragile at the back and looking vulnerable to conceding a few at the hands of Jermain Defoe and the Tottenham attack. His and Aaron Lennon’s pace will be highlighted before the game by the TV pundits no doubt as Tottenham offer a lot of threats in this match. Defensively they haven’t been stout themselves, and the attacking threat of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Louis Saha should be Everton’s biggest threats in this game.

Form
LLWWD

Injuries/Suspensions
Carlo Cudicini
Luka Modric

Tottenham’s odds are very good here and with the form of both sides I can see the weekend ending with a Tottenham win.

Best bet: Tottenham to win 6/4