Connor O'Neill - It has to be three in midfield
Another game, another selection dilemma for Frank Lampard.
However, you get the feeling that this dilemma is dependent on whether Demarai Gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are fit enough to play.
Jordan Pickford will no doubt start in goal, while one imagines Seamus Coleman, Mason Holgate, Michael Keane and Jonjoe Kenny will make up the back four.
While in midfield, one can only hope that Lampard opts to go with three men in the middle, as Everton look much more assured when set up that way.
Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure are both set to start, while Donny van de Beek should be given the nod to join them after missing the FA Cup win over Boreham Wood.
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While ahead of them, should Gray be fit then he could well get the nod over Anthony Gordon - with Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin making up the rest of the forward line.
However, should Gray not make it then Gordon, one imagines, will be given the nod over both Alex Iwobi and Andros Townsend.
My team (4-2-3-1): Pickford, Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Kenny; Allan, Doucoure; Gray, Van de Beek, Richarlison; Calvert-Lewin.
Chris Beesley - The Blues need to stop relying on favours
Some 192 days have passed since Everton last tasted victory in the Premier League away from Goodison Park and, with Frank Lampard proclaiming he is determined to stop the Blues from being considered "a soft touch" on their travels, it's high time they pulled a result out of the bag.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed their 2-0 win that day, netting Everton's second goal from the penalty spot in the summer sunshine at Brighton with what was his third goal in as many outings from the fledgling campaign.
It's safe to say that things haven't gone as planned since for either the Blues' number nine or the team as a whole.
The Sheffield-born centre-forward subsequently missed the next four months through injury and it's been stop-start for him since he returned - again against the Seagulls - on January 2 but this time missing from the spot.
After overcoming his latest niggle, Lampard stated in his pre-match press conference on Friday that he was hopeful that Calvert-Lewin would be fit to lead the line and after 21 goals in all competitions last term, Everton desperately need him to start firing again in a repeat of the opening day fixture that launched his 2020/21 scoring spree when he struck in a 1-0 success.
The same goes for Richarlison, who has declared that he's told the new Blues boss that he prefers to spearhead the attack.
If that's the case, figures of five goals from 19 goals so far this season need to be improved upon.
Everton have twice survived scares where they could have dropped into the bottom three since their last Premier League fixture against Manchester City, but while Burnley failed to leapfrog them, falling to a couple of home defeats, the Blues need to stop relying on favours and launch their own survival bid, and a key to making them more resilient appears to be the continued deployment of a three-man midfield.
My team (4-3-3): Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Kenny; Allan, Doucoure, Van de Beek; Gordon, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin.
*PICK THE EVERTON TEAM TO TAKE ON TOTTENHAM:
Paul Wheelock - Save Calvert-Lewin for Sunday
Of the six players who were handed a chance from the start in the FA Cup victory over Boreham Wood, should any keep their place? Not really, although Everton did have Salomon Rondon to thank for getting the goals that made, for long periods, a frustrating evening into an ultimately comfortable one.
But with Dominic Calvert-Lewin seemingly set to take his place back in the squad, sadly for Salomon it has to be a place among the substitutes - where he should be joined by the England international.
It's no exaggeration to say that had Calvert-Lewin been fit for the full campaign then the Blues wouldn't be in as much trouble as they currently are.
The saving grace is they have games in hand on all of the teams around them in the relegation zone so the club's undisputed No.9 should have lots of chances to leave his mark on the season.
I say undisputed... Richarlison's comments this week suggesting he sees himself as an out-and-out centre-forward will have given Frank Lampard food for thought. The Brazilian needs to add more goals to his game but, as he proved against Manchester City, he is more than capable of leading the line.
And that's what I'd ask him to do again tonight, with Demarai Gray and Anthony Gordon beside him. There is no need to risk Calvert-Lewin from the start, especially ahead of the home clash with Wolves on Sunday, which starts what could be a defining week of the campaign for Everton.
My team (4-3-3): Pickford, Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Kenny; Allan, Van De Beek, Doucoure, Gordon, Richarlison, Gray.
