Everton welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Goodison Park this afternoon as Rafael Benitez’s charges attempt to end a run of three consecutive defeats in the Premier League.

A 2-1 loss to Wolves last time out saw the Toffees drop down to 10th following a fast start to the season, with injuries to multiple key men playing their part in the recent slump in form.

The likes of Abdoulaye Doucoure, Yerry Mina and Dominic Calvert-Lewin remain sidelined through their respective issues, although Benitez did provide a positive update on one star performer in Friday’s press conference.

Full-back Lucas Digne has returned to training this week after a muscle complaint ruled him out of action for the trip to Molineux, providing Benitez with a significant boost. Doubts remain over how the Spaniard will solve his midfield conundrum, but the return of his first-choice left-back will be a big relief.

With that in mind, here’s how Football FanCast expects Everton to line up against Spurs, with three changes from the starting XI from last Monday…

In goal, England’s number one shot-stopper Jordan Pickford will start once again after making a solid start to the season, and he’ll be hoping to keep a first clean sheet since 25 September.

Ahead of the 27-year-old is likely to be a back four of Digne, Ben Godfrey, Michael Keane and Seamus Coleman, resulting in Mason Holgate dropping to the Everton bench as the French left-back returns to the line-up.

It’s in the midfield engine room where Benitez will have the biggest decisions to make. The £13.5m-rated Jean-Philippe Gbamin struggled next to Allan at Molineux, beaten in two dribbles and losing 60% of his duels, while Fabian Delph made an impressive 45-minute cameo against Wolves.

As a result, Benitez is likely to select a midfield consisting of Andros Townsend, Delph, Allan and Anthony Gordon (who was one of the better performers against Wolves), with the out-of-sorts Alex Iwobi missing out.

Completing the starting line-up will be the attacking duo of Demarai Gray and Richarlison, and the duo will be tasked with providing the firepower to see off Spurs in Antonio Conte's first Premier League game in charge of the London club.

In other news... Benitez may unearth Everton gem in “skilful” 18 y/o prodigy, he’s an “intelligent” player