Premier League | Gameweek 22

Jan 19, 2025 at 2pm UK

Goodison Park

Everton vs Spurs

Match preview

Everton's new management didn't change much for the team in their match against Aston Villa on Wednesday. They had another great chance to score in the last few minutes, but they missed it, which cost them a point.

There was no new manager bounce for Moyes, who saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin squander a huge opportunity in injury time, resulting in a 1-0 defeat at home to Unai Emery's side, their first win in six matches on the road.

That extended Everton's dismal record against Villa, with the Toffees now winless in 12 league matches against them. It also means they've only won one Premier League match in 12.

They've only scored seven goals from open play in 20 matches this season, which is the worst ratio in the Premier League era. They've also lost the last three games in a row without scoring.

Everton have now become just the fourth team in PL history to not score in at least 12 of their first 20 games of a season, and after match one, Moyes was frank and honest about the current state of the squad.

The new manager has called for the squad to improve straight away, saying that the current players might not be good enough to stop them from being relegated.

Luckily for the Toffees, Wolves, Leicester City and Ipswich Town all lost in midweek, so they're still 16th, one point above the drop zone, ahead of two more crucial home games before the rearranged Merseyside derby next month.

Everton will be welcoming Leicester to Goodison Park on 1st February, but first they've got a Spurs team to deal with, who are currently sitting just two places above them in the Premier League table.

That's because of another North London derby defeat in midweek, where Tottenham lost 2-1 at the Emirates, losing home and away to Arsenal in the same PL season for just the fifth time.

Postecoglou's team got the lead thanks to Son Heung-min, but then the Gunners turned the game around in quick succession thanks to an own goal by Dominic Solanke and a mistake by Antonin Kinsky for Leandro Trossard's effort.

That was a seventh loss in 11 games, and wins for West Ham United and Manchester United saw them both go above Spurs in the week, leaving Postecoglou's men level on points with 15th-placed Crystal Palace.

The pressure's been cranked up and Postecoglou's the favourite to be sacked next in the Premier League, but this game hasn't been labelled 'do or die' for the Aussie manager. The Spurs board are still backing the boss, if the reports on Friday are to be believed.

The numbers aren't looking great though, because an 11th defeat of the season is Tottenham's joint-highest at this point in a Premier League season, and they've only got 24 points so far.

This should be the perfect fixture for Tottenham to respond in though, given their dominant hold over Everton in recent years.

Spurs haven't lost in front of a crowd against Everton since 2012, when they went 21 games unbeaten, and the Toffees are one of the few sides they've kept a clean sheet against this season, doing so in the 4-0 thrashing they handed out in August.

At Goodison, these games tend to be closer, with all five ending in a draw since Spurs won 6-2 in 2018.

Recent Performance

Everton Premier League form:DDDLLL

Everton form (all competitions):DDLLWL

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:WLLDLL

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):LDLWWL

Team News

Everton might have James Garner back in the squad this weekend, the first time in over three months. He's back in training after hurting his back in October.

Key creative spark Dwight McNeil remains out though, while captain Seamus Coleman, and young duo Tim Iroegbunam and Youssef Chermiti will also not make it in time.

Armando Broja is set to miss the next three months after damaging ankle ligaments in the FA Cup win over Peterborough United last week, but no decision has been made yet about whether Everton will pay off the rest of his loan contract and send him back to Chelsea in order to bring another loanee in this month.

Spurs have a few injury concerns after their loss to Arsenal on Wednesday, with Brennan Johnson and Yves Bissouma both being doubtful.

Timo Werner will now miss the next three weeks with a hamstring tweak, joining Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven on the sidelines, who are all dealing with the same issue.

Ben Davies should be back in action after missing around six weeks with his own hamstring issue, and after making a comeback on Wednesday, former Everton man Richarlison will be hoping for more minutes, after scoring three times against his old employers last season.

Possible starting lineup

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Lindstrom, Gueye, Mangala, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Kinsky; Pedro Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence; Bergvall, Sarr, Maddison; Kulusevski, Solanke, Son