Afternoon all. So, while a lot of the attention today is on Wales and the clash between Cardiff City and Swansea City, there is a potentially very good match before that derby between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park. That's what we will be concentrating on for the next few hours.

The team news from Premier League fixtures seems to be released earlier and earlier these days! It's already out from Goodison Park so let's start with the hosts...

EVERTON XI: Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; McCarthy, Barry; Mirallas, Osman, Pienaar; Lukaku

EVERTON SUBS: Robles, Oviedo, Jelavic, Naismith, Barkley, Stones, Deulofeu

Well, the big news for the home side is that young midfielder Ross Barkley has dropped down to the bench. Leon Osman has come in instead, while Steven Pienaar will continue on the left flank following his recent recovery from injury. Elsewhere, Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku will carry on as a lone centre-forward.

And now for the visiting North Londoners...

TOTTENHAM XI: Lloris; Walker, Chiriches, Dawson, Vertonghen; Paulinho, Sandro; Lennon, Holtby, Townsend; Soldado

TOTTENHAM SUBS: Friedel, Kaboul, Dembele, Eriksen, Lamela, Sigurdsson, Defoe

There's not too many surprises from Andre Villas-Boas in that Spurs starting lineup it must be said. Lewis Holtby has again been preferred to Christian Eriksen in the attacking midfield role, while Brazilians Sandro and Paulinho continue in their anchoring positions. Icelander Gylfi Sigurdsson is also forced to settle for a place among the substitutes.

Staying with Tottenham's Holtby - it's a big match for the German international. He grew up as an Everton supporter and as he revealed to Sky Sports News just now, his father will could give him some grief today:

"He flew over from Germany this morning with his mates and he's going to be in the Everton stand, probably shouting at me! I'm really buzzing for this game as a childhood Everton fan and can't wait to be on the field and play at Goodison."

And while we are it, let's grab some Everton talk. Here's a bit from full-back Leighton Baines, who has also been speaking to Sky Sports News: "We've got into a bit of rhythm. We've come back from the international break and we've got on the winning track. [Going second] is a great incentive. That's the plus of playing on a Sunday because you see the other results."

Continuing the Everton theme, it was a bit of a surprise to see Barkley drop down to the bench in favour of Leon Osman. Manager Roberto Martinez has just been discussing that decision:

"It's not a big decision. Ossie has had a big, big role this season and we've got players who can share the effort. Leon is fresh and ready. Ross has started every game and there is going to be moments when we change things around. It doesn't mean that he has done anything wrong."

Another Everton player not starting is Barcelona loanee Gerard Deulofeu. Nevertheless, he's been active on Twitter today.

Today game against Tottenham! Come on toffees. pic.twitter.com/oHk8M3jlPp — Gerard Deulofeu (@gerardeulofeu) November 3, 2013

And one more for Everton, here's a positive statistic from Opta regarding the Toffees: "28 - Everton have taken 28 points from their last 10 Barclays Premier League home games. Comfort."

From Tottenham's point of view, they've not exactly enjoyed visiting Goodison Park in recent seasons. They've failed to win on any of their last six trips, with their last victory coming back in February 2007, when Jermaine Jenas was among the goals.

And here is what Villas-Boas has said in the minutes before we get started: "We decided to give the confidence to the boys that have been playing in the Premier League. We've been getting some good results recently. We've got a great team spirit and the player's qualities are decisive.

"We have to be aware of [Lukaku]. He's on a great run of form and we will have to be careful of his pace and power. I hope the players can respond."

Some worrying scenes during the warm-up for Spurs as their winger Andros Townsend goes down clutching his wrist after being struck by the ball. The England international suffered an injury to that area during a collision with a photographer last weekend and it appears to still be troubling him. If Baines, who is likely to be marking him, sees that reaction, he could well give him a nudge or two!

PREDICTION: Right, let's have a stab at this one. First and foremost, both sides are built on solid foundations, so it would be a major surprise if it ended 3-3! That's not to say that there are not some very good attack-minded players on show, because evidently there are. Let's sit on the fence and say a score draw - one goal apiece.

Right, here come the players to a loud reception from the Goodison Park faithful. There's a nice touch from the home side, who have made this their Remembrance Sunday, with a number of service men and women leading the two teams on to the pitch.

GAME ON! Here we go then. Hosting Everton, attacking from right to left, get this contest off and running. Big 90 minutes ahead for both teams.

Here's an early tweet from former Spurs winger Rohan Ricketts, who has had more clubs than Tiger Woods in recent years: "Everton vs Spurs Im excited about this game. Hopefully Spurs can pick up the 3 points. #COYS."

SAVE! An early tester for Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard as Sandro, who is not known for his ability to score goals, sends in a dipping effort from distance. The American gets down well, though, to turn the ball around the post. Lukaku then clears the resultant corner.

CHANCE! A very presentable opportunity for Soldado, which just about sums up his Tottenham career to date. Aaron Lennon does well to square up Seamus Coleman, before clipping the ball into the box from the left. Soldado's unmarked, but he fails to make a clean connection and instead he heads the ball well wide.

You'd have to say that Tottenham have started the stronger of the two sides. They've created a couple of openings and have knocked the ball around with some real authority. Everton on the other hand can't get a grip on proceedings and we've seen more of Lukaku defending in his own area than in the opposition's final third.

BOOKING! We've just had confirmation from earlier that Everton keeper Howard has been cautioned for dissent. He was unhappy that Holtby wasn't booked for a foul that he had committed on Baines and ended up receiving a yellow card himself! That's silly from the experienced keeper because he had no reason to get involved.

BOOKING! It's another caution for Everton, who are struggling to cope with Tottenham at the moment. This time it is midfielder James McCarthy that gets his name taken for pulling back Jan Vertonghen on the edge of the area.

SAVE! From the resultant free kick after McCarthy's foul, Spurs full-back Kyle Walker is given the responsibility. He curls the ball over the top of the wall, but Howard gets his body behind the effort and is able to punch clear.

It really has been a poor start from Everton. We are used to seeing them begin matches at a real high tempo, but they've looked sluggish and off the pace. They've not had one shot on the Spurs goal yet and we've played just over 20 minutes.

PENALTY APPEAL! Big shouts from the Spurs players and in particular Vertonghen, who feels that he was hauled to the ground by Coleman. The Everton full-back initially slipped, thus gifting possession to Soldado. He in turn played in Vertonghen, who raided into the Everton area. Replays show that he may have gone to ground a little too easily but they've certainly been given.

SAVE! Howard is again called into action, first to punch clear Holtby's corner. The same player picks up the pieces and drills goalwards from the edge of the area. His shot takes a deflection, but Howard is alert and holds to ease some of the pressure on his team.

CHANCE! Everton have at last had a shot, although it was nothing to write home about. Osman weighs up his options from 25 yards out and decides to go for glory. His shot is always rising, though, and Hugo Lloris watches it fly well over the target.

There's been signs in the last couple of minutes or so that Everton have awoken from their slumber. On two occasions we've seen Baines get down the left flank and he has linked well with Steven Pienaar. Having said that, he did also just kick a corner straight out of play!

One thing that you would say about Spurs is that they need to get more support up to Soldado. The Spanish striker is cutting a lonely figure on his own and with the amount of possession that they have had, there is no reason why they cannot commit an extra man or two further forward. That's probably a big reason as to why they've only scored nine goals in the Premier League this term.

Sandro has just been penalised for handball and a free kick has been awarded in a great area for Baines. It will be a real smash and grab if Everton score from this...

...but it was Kevin Mirallas that struck the ball, straight into the Tottenham wall. The resultant corner from Baines is then easily cleared by the away side.

As Soldado blazes well over the bar from the edge of the area, one minute of stoppage time is signaled by the fourth official.

Well that half belonged Tottenham, but the fact is they failed to make the most of their domination. That is bound to be Villas-Boas's main gripe with his players because had they have been a couple of goals in front, Everton could not really have argued.

And here's a bit of advice from former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan to Villas-Boas:

Soldado .. 1 goal in 10 games from open play ... 26 million pound bargain... #GetDefoeon — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 3, 2013

Okay, Soldado has not been fantastic by any stretch of the imagination, but he really isn't being helped by the system that Spurs are playing. He's isolated on his own and when crosses are sent into the area by Lennon or Townsend, he's often marked by both of the Everton centre-backs. It would mean a change in formation, but perhaps Defoe and Soldado could play together?

And here's a stat, again from Opta, that backs up how dominant Tottenham have been: "95% - Tottenham's Vlad Chiriches had the best pass completion of any player on the pitch in the first half. Bite."

As for Everton, while Martinez is bound to be unhappy with his charges, he must believe that they cannot perform that badly again after the restart. We've seen nothing from Lukaku apart from three clearances that he has made with his head in the Everton penalty box.

SECOND HALF UNDERWAY! The players have returned and neither manager has opted to make a change. Spurs get us restarted on Merseyside.

Again it's been a bright start from Spurs as Holtby works himself some space inside the Everton area. His shot is powerful enough, but the experienced Sylvain Distin stands firm and blocks. Up the other end, Vlad Chiriches makes a fantastic last-ditch sliding challenge to deny Mirallas, who is then booked for dissent - the third Everton player to have been cautioned.

Villas-Boas has just told the likes of Moussa Dembele and Eriksen to go out and warm-up on the touchline. Perhaps a sign that he is not happy with his more creative players. Surely it can't be long before Defoe starts going through some stretches as well.

Whatever Distin can do, Michael Dawson can do better! Mirallas gets down the Everton right and drills in a cross. The ball evades everyone before reaching Pienaar, who takes a touch to steady himself. He then fires the ball towards goal, but Dawson throws his body in the way to block. It may not have reached its intended target, but it's lifted the home faithful nevertheless.

Some potentially bad news for Everton, because Distin is down and clutching his knee after a challenge with Paulinho. The Frenchman is not the sort to go down unnecessarily and he seems to be in a lot of pain.

Thankfully for the home side, their big defender is now up after some treatment from the physio and looks as though he is going to continue. Tough as old boots!

SUBSTITUTION: The first change of the afternoon and it is Tottenham that have blinked first. Off comes Brazilian midfielder Sandro, who has been replaced by Moussa Dembele. It's certainly a creative move from the visiting manager.

SUBSTITUTIONS: Tit-for-tat between the two managers as Martinez now makes a couple of alterations. He's gone for youth as well as Barkley enters the action in place of Osman, while loanee winger Gerard Deulofeu has come on for Mirallas.

PENALTY APPEAL! There's already been a positive injection from Barkley, who holds off two challenges before taking aiming from a good 30 yards out. Lloris always looks in control as the ball flies over the top of the goal, but it's a sign of intent from the England international. Moments later, Coleman is adamant that he should have had a penalty for a trip by Vertonghen. The replays show that he had a case, but Kevin Friend waves away the appeal. A let off for Spurs.

BOOKING! The biggest cheer of the afternoon goes up from the home fans as Paulinho receives a caution for a mistimed challenged on McCarthy. It seemed a little harsh, but he now has to be careful. There's also a second change for Spurs as the quiet Lennon comes off and is replaced by Sigurdsson.

CHANCE! But for some brilliant defending, Everton could well be in front. It appeared that Barkley was going to turn Deulofeu's cross in from close range, but in the final second Dawson stuck out his boot to bravely clear the danger. Then, the Spurs skipper does just enough to put off Lukaku, who shoots wide from a narrow angle. The substitutions have worked for Everton, that's for sure.

SAVE! Some good possession football for Spurs which involved the likes of Walker and Townsend ends with Sigurdsson, who attempts to curl the ball in from the edge of the area. There's not enough power on his effort, though, and Howard gets both fists on the ball to bounce well clear.

BOOKING! Lukaku has been penalised, although you have to feel some sympathy for him. Yes he caught an outrushing Lloris in the head with his knee, but both players were going for the ball and there was certainly no malice. Lloris, meanwhile, has received treatment, but he can't continue. He looks like he wants to play on strangely, but the medics and his teammates are urging him off and so on comes veteran keeper Brad Friedel.

Actually, scrap that, Lloris has trotted back on to the field, against the advice of everyone seemingly! He's going to continue and Friedel returns to the bench. How odd!

Surely Everton are now going to shoot on sight to test out Lloris. He clearly feels that he is fine, but it was a hefty knock to the head that he took. They will have to get the ball first, though, because Spurs are controlling the possession right now.

SUBSTITUTION: A frustrating afternoon for Lukaku comes to an end and his number comes up. He's been replaced by Everton's forgotten man - Nikica Jelavic, who won this fixture for the Toffees last season. Meanwhile, Eriksen replaces Holtby for Spurs.

SAVE! Lloris shows that he is suffering no ill effects with a smart stop to deny Deulofeu. The young Spaniard skipped beyond three Tottenham challenges to make the chance for himself, but his lofted shot was well blocked by the Spurs keeper.

There was always going to be a hefty amount of stoppage time and the verdict is nine minutes! Plenty of time left for a winning goal. Right now, Everton look the more likely to claim it.

What a delivery from Eriksen from the right flank. It flashes across the six yard box, but nobody from either side is able to get a touch on the ball and the chance evaporates for Spurs. It was the sort of cross that demanded a goal.

SAVE! It's been a largely quiet afternoon for Townsend, considering his recent outings anyway. However, he goes closer to curling in a winner from the edge of the area after he beats Baines for pace. Howard once again is alert, though, and holds the ball well.

So, after all that, the spoils are shared. Spurs are bound to be a little disappointed considering their domination, particularly during the first half, but they have to settle for a point.

That's all we have time for from Goodison Park. Thanks for joining us this afternoon and until next time, goodbye.