Tottenham Hotspur will be looking for a response when they welcome Everton to North London on Monday night, having been well beaten by an out-of-form Sheffield United team last time out.

Jose Mourinho's side slipped to ninth in the Premier League table as a result of their 3-1 defeat, with Everton now just one point behind in 11th following a 2-1 triumph over Leicester City.

Match preview

Spurs went into lockdown in poor form, and matters have barely improved since the restart with only one win from their three outings so far.

A draw against Manchester United and victory over West Ham United made for a relatively encouraging return from their first two games back, but Thursday's 3-1 reverse at a Sheffield United side in poor form halted any sort of momentum in its tracks.

In fairness to Mourinho and his players, they did find themselves on the end of the latest baffling call with regards to the handball law in the buildup to goals, which VAR had no option but to implement to deny a Harry Kane equaliser less than two minutes after Sheffield United had taken the lead.

Kane did eventually get on the scoresheet, but by that stage it was merely a consolation and the defeat leaves Tottenham now ninth in the table and nine points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.

It is now just one win in nine outings for Tottenham across all competitions and five points from their last six Premier League games - form which is nowhere near good enough for a team pushing to be in any European competition next season, yet alone the Champions League.

They will at least be pleased to be back at home, where only four teams have picked up more points this season, in comparison to a woeful away record which has seen them win just three times on the road in 18 months.

Everton's own record on their travels this season is even worse than Tottenham's, but they did win their only away game since lockdown so far with a 1-0 triumph over Norwich City last month.

Incredibly, Everton have not won back-to-back Premier League away games since September 2016, while you have to go all the way back to December 2013 for their last win at the home of one of the so-called 'big six'.

The line between those big six and the rest has certainly been blurred this season, though, and Everton's improvement under Carlo Ancelotti will make them confident of picking up a result against Spurs in this one.

The Toffees have won back-to-back games heading into this one - including a 2-1 triumph over Champions League-chasing Leicester City last time out - and are looking to win three top-flight matches on the bounce for the first time all season.

Doing so would lift them above Tottenham into the top half of the table and could even leave them level on points with seventh-placed Sheffield United should other results go their way this weekend.

European football is by no means out of the question for next season, then, particularly with half of their remaining matches coming against teams currently below them in the table and the other three against teams fighting for the same target.

Spurs Premier League form: LLDDWL
Spurs form (all competitions): LDLDWL

Everton Premier League form: LDLDWW

Team News

Dele Alli sat out against Sheffield United and has since picked up a thigh injury in training, but Mourinho refused to rule him out of the game and, if fit, he will be pushing for a recall here, with Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura both contenders to make way.

Tanguy Ndombele was also given an olive branch of sorts with a 20-minute cameo, although he is unlikely to break into the starting lineup just yet.

Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Harry Winks were among the other players to sit out again against the Blades, while Juan Foyth and Japhet Tanganga remain sidelined.

Kane completed the set against Sheffield United by ensuring that he has now scored against every team he has faced in the division, and he has particularly enjoyed himself against Everton with nine goals in nine games, winning six of those and losing none.

Everton's attempts to prevent him from adding to that tally are likely to be boosted by the return of Djibril Sidibe, who is fit again after an ankle injury.

Ancelotti has also confirmed that Richarlison will be available despite missing training on Friday, but the game may come just too soon for both Fabian Delph and Theo Walcott.

Cenk Tosun and Jean-Philippe Gbamin are both long-term absentees for the Toffees.

Tottenham possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Aurier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies; Sissoko, Lo Celso; Bergwijn, Alli, Son; Kane

Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Sidibe, Keane, Holgate, Digne; Iwobi, Gomes, Sigurdsson, Bernard; Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison

We say: Tottenham 1-1 Everton

Spurs are a difficult team to predict at the moment, having already lost seven Premier League games under Mourinho. They have the players to beat anyone in the league, but consistency has been the problem and we can see them dropping more points here.

Everton's away form keeps us clear of predicting a Toffees win, but we are expecting Ancelotti's side to get something from the game.