Everton – Tottenham Hotspur preview: Red hot Spurs looking to keep up title push

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas is here, the decorations are up, the boxes of Quality Street are out on the table, and the madness that is the festive period of football is about to begin.

The Christmas fixtures are some of the most important games of the season as they can create huge gaps in the league table in a short space of time and they define who are the serious contenders for the title, as well as who will miss out on the top four.

This season, Tottenham have once again asserted themselves as a strong candidate for a top four finish, and this weekend they head up north to face off against Everton, where a win could see Spurs widen the gap between the top four and the rest of the league.

The form

Both started the season exceptionally well, with Tottenham having their best start to a Premier League season since the inception of the league and the Toffees’ settling well under manager Marco Silva, but in recent weeks the two teams have diverged in form.

Everton have won once in their last six games, whilst Spurs have only lost once in the same amount of games.

As well as form, Spurs have history on their side too. Mauricio Pochettino’s side have not lost in their past 12 league meetings against Everton and have not lost against the Liverpool-based club since 2012.

The team news

Spurs still remain hit by the recent injury crisis that has plagued the club all the season, but Pochettino’s side have received a boost with the return of Davinson Sanchez, who is available this weekend for the trip to Merseyside.

Juan Foyth is also back to full fitness for the North London side after the Argentine defender appeared on the bench midweek against Arsenal.

Victor Wanyama, Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele all remain ruled out and Vincent Janssen, Jan Vertonghen and Serge Aurier are all not fit enough yet to participate in training.

For Everton, only James McCarthy and Idrissa Gueye are fighting for match fitness ahead of Sunday’s game.

The prediction

The festive period is one of the most important stretches of the Premier League season and both teams will be eager to come away with the three points. For Spurs, the prospect of claiming the win and gaining more breathing room from fifth position will motivate the squad.

Their past history against Everton favours them as well, and given their impressive form, Spurs are the huge favourites for Sunday afternoon’s game.

Prediction: Everton 1-3 Spurs