Match preview [ I go for a draw] though any thing can happen. Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, two teams with top-four ambitions, will meet at White Hart Lane on Sunday and Toffees defender Phil Jagielka is looking forward to the challenge of keeping Tim Sherwood’s free-scoring opponents quiet. Spurs, who sit sixth, have top-four ambitions and have scored in all eight league matches since Sherwood took over as head coach in December. Pretty much every weekend somebody is going to drop points [in the race for fourth] because they are playing against another team who is alongside them, the Everton defender told the clubs website. He [Sherwood] has gone out and tried to put a few more attacking players out there, whether thats because of the squad he has got to choose from or his mentality. Everton responded from their derby defeat to Liverpool with a hard-fought 2-1 triumph over Aston Villa last week as goals in the last 20 minutes from Steven Naismith and Kevin Mirallas led them to their 300th Barclays Premier League win and keep them in fifth place. Everton have not won at White Hart Lane since November 2008 but will take encouragement from Spurs’ poor home record this season. They have won just three of their last 10 league matches at home and were hammered 5-1 by Manchester City in their last fixture there. Spurs were held to a 1-1 draw at Hull City last week but could be boosted by the returns of Andros Townsend and Mousa Dembele from hamstring and ankle problems respectively. Midfield pair Erik Lamela (thigh) and Sandro (calf) and defender Vlad Chiriches (back) are set to remain on the sidelines. Seamus Coleman is expected to return from a hamstring injury for Everton and Barcelona loanee Gerard Deulofeu may also feature after recovering from the same issue. Striker Romelu Lukaku (ankle) is likely to miss out and fellow forward Lacina Traores hamstring trouble may keep him from making his debut since joining on loan from Monaco in January. The meeting between the two sides in November ended in a goalless stalemate at Goodison Park. Spurs from: Friedel, Gomes, Lloris, Dawson, Kaboul, Naughton, Rose, Vertonghen, Walker, Capoue, Chadli, Dembele, Eriksen, Lennon, Paulinho, Sigurdsson, Townsend, Adebayor, Defoe, Soldado. Everton from: Howard, Robles, Baines, Coleman, Distin, Hibbert, Jagielka, Stones, Barkley, Barry, McCarthy, McGeady, Osman, Pienaar, Deulofeu, Gueye, Lukaku, Mirallas, Naismith, Vellios, Traore. Match Appointments Referee: Mark Clattenburg. Assistants: S Beck, D Bryan. Fourth Official: P Dowd.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 09:40:24 +0000
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