Everton-Tottenham Hotspur Preview

White Hart Lane has been anything but a fortress for Tottenham Hotspur this season.

Tottenham (5-2-5) have a surprisingly poor Premier League record in front of their own supporters, picking up just six points from six games and losing four of their last five. Only struggling Hull City, Aston Villa and Burnley have worse home records and
the fans turned on the Spurs players after the 2-1 defeat to Stoke in the club's last home match.

Tottenham's away form has remarkably kept them just two points outside of the top four, while their displays at White Hart Lane in the Europa League have been far more impressive. A 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade on Thursday night guaranteed Spurs' progression to the knockout stages of the competition and manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted his players do seem to have a different level of confidence when it comes to home Premier League games.

"Maybe the team feels more freedom (in Europe) than the Premier League," said Pochettino. "It is a different competition. Maybe we are more confident in the Europa League, our feeling is more free, to play and show our skill. It is true that in the Premier League we have problems in our games at home."

Sunday will see Roberto Martinez's Everton (4-5-3) travel to north London and try to add to the problems at White Hart Lane. The Toffees have been in outstanding form of late, going unbeaten in five to recover from a poor start to the season. And Thursday evening saw Martinez's side run out 2-0 winners against in-form Bundesliga club Wolfsburg to secure top spot in their Europa League group, with Kevin Mirallas securing the win after Romelu Lukaku had given Everton a first-half lead.

"Rom (Romelu Lukaku) has had, in my eyes, a very good start to the season," Martinez said. "Maybe he has not grabbed the headlines from the outside but we know how important he is for us. You look at his game and he becomes a focal point in everything we want to do. You don't get many strikers who are so strong and good at running with the ball with that power, pace and clinical finishing.

"We value Rom immensely. We have been getting on with our season on the quiet and I think Rom has been exactly the same. We are building something special going into the second half of the season. That is our objective."

Lukaku is expected to start again on Sunday, with Steven Naismith a doubt due to a hamstring injury. Steven Pienaar (knee), Leighton Baines (hamstring) and Gareth Barry are all facing late fitness tests.

An ankle injury to John Stones means that veteran Tony Hibbert is likely to continue at right-back, whileRoss Barkley will be hopeful of a start after only featuring from the bench against Wolfsburg

Tottenham's Younes Kaboul and Emmanuel Adebayor both sat out the 2-1 win at Hull last weekend, and a big decision for Pochettino will be whether or not to reinstate his out-of-form captain and vice-captain. Regular starters Nacer Chadli (knee) and Etienne Capoue (knock) are injury doubts, while Danny Rose's chest injury means that Ben Davies is likely to get another league start. Spurs will be without the suspended Kyle Naughton and injured Kyle Walker at right-back, with Vlad Chiriches and Eric Dier battling it out for the starting spot.

Roberto Soldado's wait for a goal continues. However, the Spaniard did everything but score against Partizan - hitting the post as an assist for the winner being the highlight of a lively individual display - and the former Valencia and Spain striker could well lead the line against Everton, with an attacking trio of Harry Kane, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen in support.

Spurs ran out 1-0 winners the previous time these teams met, while they also played out a goalless draw in the Goodison Park fixture last season. That 1-0 win for the Lilywhites was their first in five against the Toffees.