Premier League: Will Spurs Find the Toffees Too Sticky?

Everton vs Tottenham Hotspur

12^th hosts sixth in a fascinating clash to close the weekend’s top-flight action when the Premier League match between Everton and Tottenham kicks off on Sunday evening.

Thomas Frank’s Spurs come into the match on the back of a disappointing loss at home to Aston Villa last week, while David Moyes’ Everton had a hardly surprising defeat away to Manchester City. Now back at their new home, the Toffees will try to impose themselves on their illustrious visitors and close the three-point gap which separates the two clubs. 

Tottenham headed to Monaco on Wednesday night for a Champions League bout and left the south of France with a 0-0 draw. So, with longer to prepare than their visitors, Everton will be ready and raring for the fight.

 

Talking Points

Grealish will try to spook the Spurs full-backs

With Halloween fast approaching, Everton fans are hoping that Tottenham suffer a horror show at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and the hosts will be strengthened by the return of their best player. Summer signing Jack Grealish has led the way in Everton’s creative unit since he arrived from Manchester City on loan, but he was unable to face his parent club last week and that undoubtedly weakened Moyes’ hand.

Grealish has made five goal contributions, a goal and four assists, and has created the most chances of any winger in the Premier League. Tottenham full-back Pedro Porro will have his work cut out, and after only making one tackle in the entire 90 minutes against AS Monaco, his manager will need to prime him for the challenge Grealish brings.

The 30-year-old England star has mesmeric skills and a maverick streak, which makes him hard to read and almost impossible to play when he’s at his very best. And he will be champing at the bit to get back on the pitch after watching his teammates lose without him last week.

Moyes is still missing talented centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, and so Michael Keane is likely to sit in the middle of defence alongside the imposing James Tarkowski, and they will have plenty of work to do.

 

Spurs hope for a travelling bounceback

Tottenham met Aston Villa last week, at a time when the Midlanders were gathering momentum after a slow start to their season, and Frank’s men came a cropper after Rodrigo Bentancur had given them a fifth-minute lead. Goals from Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia turned the game on its head, and Unai Emery’s men inflicted on Spurs only the second league defeat in Frank’s tenure. In the process, Tottenham missed a chance to go second, but they recovered well enough to escape Monaco with a goalless draw, largely thanks to keeper Guglielmo Vicario, who made a string of top-class saves.

The worrying factor about the defeat to Villa was that it meant Spurs have only won three home Premier League games in 18, but the North Londoners did, of course, finish 17^th last term.

It’s a problem that needs fixing quickly. But in the meantime, Spurs will be happy to be on their travels again to seek their next victory. They will play on the front foot against Everton with a midfield of Joao Palhinha and Bentancur looking to dominate and stop the initial supply to Grealish.

Micky van de Ven will marshal the defence, and then an attack featuring the speedy trio of Richarlison, Wilson Odobert, and Mohammed Kudus will try to exploit any chinks in the Toffees’ defence and create new Premier League 2025 highlights.

 

History

Spurs have had the better of the head-to-heads, winning 27 of the 62 encounters over the past three decades, while the Toffees have won 11 and there have been 24 draws.

Last season, Tottenham thrashed Everton 4-0 in London with Heung-Min Son scoring a brace as Jordan Pickford gifted the soon-to-be departed Korean a goal. Everton extracted their revenge in January, racing into a three-goal lead before two late Spurs strikes made it 3-2.

With one win, two draws, and three defeats, Everton’s recent form is not all Moyes would want. Meanwhile, Spurs have been a little subdued with two wins, three draws, and that disappointing defeat to Villa.

 

Betting Tip

The Premier League 2025 betting odds say all three results are well in play here, with the hosts at SBOTOP odds of 2.35 to win, their visitors at 2.95, and the draw at 3.25. It’s a tough match to call with Everton benefiting from a week off and the return of Grealish. But Spurs have mainly looked well-balanced under Frank and have plenty of quality in their squad. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a draw, but I’m more confident in a hard-fought game of two to three goals.

   

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