Both Everton and Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to give their hopes of finishing in top four a boost when they meet at Goodison Park in the Premier League on Friday night.
Everton are currently eighth in the table, seven points behind fourth-placed West Ham United, while Tottenham occupy seventh position, six points off the Champions League positions.
Match preview
© Reuters
For long stages of the season, Everton have been very much in the argument for a possible top-four finish, but a disappointing run of form at the worst possible time has seen the Toffees lose precious ground.
Indeed, a run of four games without a victory in the league - picking up just two points in the process - has left them down in eighth position, seven points behind fourth-placed West Ham, albeit with a game in hand.
Carlo Ancelotti's side suffered back-to-back defeats to Chelsea and Burnley towards the start of March and have been frustratingly held by Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion in their last two encounters.
The Merseyside giants will view their next two games against Tottenham and Arsenal as vital to their chances of claiming a European position, and a top-four finish could be possible if they manage to pick up maximum points from their two fixtures with the North London giants.
Everton have lost seven of their 15 league games at Goodison Park this term, but they have already beaten Spurs twice this season - once in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup.
© Reuters
Tottenham, meanwhile, have only won one of their last four in the Premier League and will enter this match off the back of a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho's side took the lead against the Red Devils through Son Heung-min, but an impressive second-half performance from the 20-time English champions saw them emerge victorious.
Spurs will face Manchester City in the EFL Cup final on April 25, but they were disappointingly knocked out of the Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb last month, and there is huge pressure on the club to claim a Champions League spot for the 2021-22 campaign.
Tottenham, as mentioned, are currently seventh in the table, six points behind fourth-placed West Ham, but they do not have a game in hand on the Hammers and would drop down to eighth if they lose this match.
The North London club have only won one of their last five matches in all competitions with Everton, while they have dropped points in nine of their 16 away league matches this term.
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- D
- W
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Everton's injury situation will ease on Friday night with Allan, Andre Gomes and Jordan Pickford all in contention to make their returns, at least to the squad.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed out against Brighton due to an abductor problem, though, and the England international remains unavailable for selection, meaning that James Rodriguez could again join Richarlison as part of a front two.
Bernard, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Fabian Delph and Abdoulaye Doucoure are still injured, though, while Yerry Mina is now facing "a few weeks" on the sidelines with an adductor issue.
Ancelotti will have to make a late check on Allan, but the Brazilian should return in the middle of the park, with Mason Holgate dropping back into defence as a replacement for Mina.
As for Spurs, full-backs Ben Davies and Matt Doherty are both still unavailable for selection through injury, but the capital side did not suffer any fresh problems against Man United last time out.
Mourinho could decide to make changes on Friday with Toby Alderweireld and Moussa Sissoko in line for recalls, with Giovani Lo Celso and Eric Dier potentially dropping out of the starting XI.
Son and Harry Kane are certain starters in the final third, while Lucas Moura should again get the nod in a forward area, with Gareth Bale likely to be on the bench once again.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Holgate, Godfrey, Keane; Coleman, Allan, Davies, Sigurdsson, Digne; Richarlison, Rodriguez
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Rodon, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Sissoko; Lucas, Ndombele, Son; Kane
We say: Everton 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
The two teams played out a 1-1 draw when they last locked horns at Goodison Park in the Premier League in November 2019, and we are backing the same scoreline on this occasion. A point would not help either in terms of their top-four ambitions, but we are finding it tough to separate them here.
Top tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Tottenham Hotspur win with a probability of 54.05%. A draw had a probability of 23.7% and a win for Everton had a probability of 22.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Tottenham Hotspur win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.76%) and 0-2 (9.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.28%), while for a Everton win it was 1-0 (6.53%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5% likelihood.
