Tottenham vs. Everton: Preview and Predictions

On Sunday afternoon, Tottenham and Everton will meet for possibly one of the most important matches of this year's battle for European football.

Both sides are currently red-hot in the Premier League, and with Tottenham currently holding the coveted fourth Champion's League spot, though just a mere eight points ahead of the Toffees, it will surely be an afternoon to remember for the high-flying contenders.

Earlier this season, French hitman Louis Saha and Aussie Tim Cahill capped a thrilling comeback at Goodison Park that saw the teams equalize 2-2 in front of a fantastic Everton crowd. This weekend at White Hart Line, we can only hope for a similarly entertaining encounter.

Although the Blues will be hurting after a disappointing 3-0 away loss to Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League, they should find some comfort in having back last year's Everton Player of the Year, Phil Jagielka, for the match. Additionally, back-to-back home wins against Chelsea and Manchester United, 2-1 and 3-1 respectively, should have the likes of Mikel Arteta and company looking confident and ready to make a strong push into the European places for next season.

Harry Redknapp's boys should be similarly exhilarated following a 4-0 win against Bolton in the FA Cup and a 3-0 away drubbing of Roberto Martinez's struggling Wigan last weekend. No doubt, the possibility of Champion's League football for next term will also have the Spurs firing at full-throttle in an attempt to hold off the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, and Aston Villa from grabbing fourth-spot by the round's end.

It should be worth noting that this match will potentially see two of the EPL's top scorers facing off at opposite ends in Louis Saha (13) and Jermaine Defoe (16). If the latter isn't fit after suffering some hamstring problems earlier this week against Bolton, we could see currently in-form Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko trying to cap of a great week with his fourth goal in three matches.

Other players to watch for this Sunday are Landon Donovan, who could be ready to return to his LA Galaxy, unless something drastic happens in the next few weeks to keep him at Goodison until the end of the season, Spanish playmaker Mikel Arteta, creative Spur's midfielder Niko Nranjcar, and the ever-dangerous Peter Crouch.

This fixture last season saw Everton come home with a well-worked 1-0 win via Steven Pienaar's second-half goal.

Potential Line-ups:

Tottenham : Gomes, Bale, Dawson, King, Corluka, Bentley, Palacios, Huddlestone, Kranjcar, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko (Subs) Alnwick, Assou-Ekotto, Kaboul, Jenas, Bassong, Rose, Modric, Gudjohnsen

Injury concerns: Cudicini, Woodgate, Lennon, Defoe (doubtful)

Everton : Howard, Neville, Heitenga, Distin, Baines, Donovan, Arteta, Osman, Pienaar, Bilyaletdinov, Saha (Subs) Nash, Coleman, Yobo, Duffy, Rodwell, Gosling, Yakubu, Anichebe

Injury concerns: Hibbert, Senderos (doubtful), Cahill (doubtful), Fellaini

Form Guide:

Everton LWWWL

Liverpool FC (A) L 1-0
Chelsea FC (H) W 2-1
Sporting Clube (H) W 2-1
Manchester United FC (H) W 3-1
Sporting Clube (A) L 3-0

Tottenham WWDLD

Aston Villa FC (H) D 0-0
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (A) L 1-0
Bolton Wanderers FC (A) D 1-1
Wigan Athletic FC (A) W 3-0
Bolton Wanderers FC (H) W 4-0

Final Prediction:

Tottenham 2-2 Everton