The final Premier League action before Christmas takes us to Goodison Park as Everton play host to Tottenham in what usually proves to be an exciting clash between two of the mainstays of English top flight football.
Neither side has ever been relegated since the Premier League’s inception back in 1992 and although there are no certainties in sport, the likelihood of either of these clubs losing that status is not one that we will see anytime soon.
It used to be fair to say that there were a lot of similarities between Everton and Tottenham, one that makes for an interesting rivalry. The reason being that both clubs had to sit in the shadow of their local arch rivals.
For Everton read Liverpool and for Tottenham read Arsenal. However, that is seemingly no longer the case as Mauricio Pochettino’s men can lay claim to being part of a power shift in North London due to the fact that Spurs have finished ahead of the Gunners in the last two league seasons.
Something that has not been the case on Merseyside as for all intents and purposes Everton have had to play second fiddle to Liverpool for the best part of 30 years, a status that one day they hope will change while under the stewardship of manager Marco Silva.
He is undoubtedly one of Europe’s hottest managerial prospects and should he manage to break the glass ceiling which is otherwise known as the ‘Big Six’ at the end of the season, then it will be viewed as the kind of progress that Everton have been looking to make for a number of years.
Last weekend the Toffees tested themselves against another member of that elite club of six as they travelled to defending champions Manchester City. A trip that would prove to be fruitless as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Etihad.
Everton by no means disgraced themselves they just arguably met City at the wrong time, this was due to the fact that Pep Guardiola’s men had a point to prove after losing their unbeaten start to the season at the hands of Chelsea the week before.
And had Everton taken a number of second half chances, especially after getting themselves back into the game at 2-1 then there is no reason why they could not have come away with a point in what where awful conditions to play football in.
Those same conditions nearly hampered Tottenham in getting all three points at home to Burnley, it looked as if it was going to be a European hangover after their efforts in Barcelona earlier in the week. However, with the game fizzling out for a draw there was still time for Christian Eriksen to slot home.
That goal came in the dying seconds and is one that saw them solidify third spot in the Premier League table. That said, they may well start this game in fourth should Chelsea pick up a win at home to Leicester the day before.
If that is to be the case then it makes the trip to Goodison a must win one, last season Spurs came here and won the game while playing at half pace. It might not be that easy this time around, but the final outcome will end up being the same.