Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Ange Postecoglou will aim for his first win of the season when Tottenham Hotspur welcome Everton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, August 24.  

Spurs kicked off their 33rd opening day fixture of the Premier League era when they faced last season’s EFL Championship winners and 2015-16 Premier League champions, Leicester City in the first Monday night football of the season.

Postecoglou hoped for his first-ever opening day victory as Spurs Boss after playing out a 2-2 draw against Brentford last season.

Spurs fans were also optimistic of a positive result after an impressive preseason campaign that they won four of their preseason matches, scoring at least two goals in all their victories.

However, things didn’t go as planned as a dominant Spurs side failed to win at Leicester for the second time in a row in the Premier League.

Tottenham had dominated the game, holding over 70 per cent possession in the first half, allowing only one shot, and taking a well-earned lead with Pedro Porro’s precise finish from a perfectly delivered James Maddison cross.

Jamie Vardy, who didn’t participate in any of the Foxes’ pre-season matches, was initially expected to miss their Premier League opener. However, he assured manager Steve Cooper that he was fit to play after an injury to Patson Daka left the club without another senior striker.

That decision proved wise at the King Power Stadium, as the 37-year-old rose to head in an equalizer from the hosts’ first significant opportunity 12 minutes into the second half, thanks to a superb cross from Abdul Fatawu.

It was Jamie Vardy’s eighth opening-day goal in the Premier League, a record only bettered by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah with nine.

Despite amassing 15 total attempts and seven on goal, the North London club still failed to find a second goal with £65 million summer signing Dominic Solanke notably wasting several opportunities and were lucky not to concede a second goal following Guglielmo Vicario’s sprawling save to deny Vardy.

They now gear up to face an embattled Everton side that is battling with on-pitch performances while facing the danger of another point deduction.

Everton face different concerns ahead of their clash against Spurs, from ending their seven-game winless run against the North Londoners to stopping Richarlison’s rout of four goals in five appearances against his former side, and ending an eleven-match winless run in away matches so far.

Sean Dyche will be tasked to end the Toffees abysmal away record after winning only five matches away from home last season.

All five of Everton’s away victories came within their first eight away matches but results began to deteriorate after that. Following a 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor in mid-December, Everton went winless in their next 11 away games. That stretch began with a 2-1 loss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium just before Christmas.

In their opening Premier League fixture of the 2024-25 season, the Merseyside club were put to the sword by an impressive Brighton and Hove Albion side coached by 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler, the youngest ever manager in the Premier League.

Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring for the Seagulls despite early pressure from Everton who saw their penalty appeal overturned in the second half.

Danny Welbeck doubled the lead after a marauding run before Simon Adingra put the game to bed to relegate the Toffees to the bottom of the table after Matchday one.

The Toffees are now returning to the stadium where their abysmal winless run in away matches began and Dyche will savour the chance to end it where it all started.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton match details 

• Date: Saturday, August 24, 2024
• Location: London, England
• Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
• Kick-off time: 03:00 PM BST, 10:00 AM ET, 7:00 AM PT, 02:00 PM UTC
• Referee: Anthony Taylor
• Assistant referees: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn Fourth official: Tom Nield
• VAR: Andy Madley
• Assistant VAR: Harry Lennard
• Tickets: Fans can buy Tottenham vs Everton tickets through the club websites or via a trusted reseller like Seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head

• Tottenham have secured more Premier League victories against Everton (30) than any other team, and they’ve also netted more goals against the Toffees (100) than any other side in the competition.

• Everton, on the other hand, have won only one of their last 22 Premier League encounters with Spurs (D10 L11) and haven’t beaten them in six matches since a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the opening day of the 2020-21 season.

• Since their last meeting in December 2023, no away team has managed to produce as many shots on target in a Premier League match at Spurs as Everton did that day (8).

• Tottenham are unbeaten in their last seven matches against Everton since a 5-4 FA Cup defeat in 2021. Four of those games ended in draws, while Tottenham’s three wins have all come at home.

• Both teams have scored in each of their last three meetings, and both sides have found the net in four of Spurs’ last five home league games and four of Everton’s last five away league matches.

• Everton are winless in their last eleven Premier League away games, while Spurs have won nine of their last twelve home league matches.

• At 39 years and 39 days old, Everton’s Ashley Young became the oldest player ever to be sent off in the Premier League.

• Postecoglou’s squad began the season with four consecutive home victories, including wins over Manchester United and Liverpool, before hitting a rough patch.

• Last season, Tottenham had a strong home record, winning 13 of their 19 games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, although they lost the remaining six.

• Tottenham’s Richarlison has a solid track record against his former team, scoring four goals in five matches against Everton, with three of those coming last season.

Team news

Ashley Young is unavailable due to suspension after receiving a red card over the weekend, while defender Jarrod Branthwaite is likely to miss out again due to injury.

Everton will also be without Nathan Patterson (hamstring) and Youssef Chermiti (foot), who are both injured.

Seamus Coleman and James Garner are doubtful with calf injuries, but Michael Keane should be fit after returning to training earlier this week following a minor issue and is expected to compete with new signing Jake O’Brien for a starting spot at centre-back alongside James Tarkowski.

Tim Iroegbunam made his Everton debut following his summer transfer from Aston Villa.

However, Iliman Ndiaye, Jesper Lindstrom, and Jake O’Brien, who also joined Everton during the close season, had to settle for a spot on the bench.

Tottenham manager Postecoglou has been enforcing discipline in pre-season, suspending midfielder Yves Bissouma for Monday’s draw with Leicester after the Mali international was recently filmed inhaling laughing gas.

Rodrigo Bentancur was stretchered off during Spurs’ game at King Power on Monday night and is almost certain to miss this match, while Pedro Porro picked up a knock and is doubtful.

Fraser Forster (foot) and Richarlison (calf) are both facing fitness concerns with the latter now looked to be pushed down the pecking order by summer arrival, Solanke, who started against Leicester on Monday.

Predicted starting lineup 

Tottenham Hotspur predicted starting lineup:

Vicario; Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Gray, Maddison; Kulisevski, Solanke, Son.

Everton predicted starting lineup:

Pickford; Holgate, Tarkowski, O’Brien, Mykolenko; Gueye, Iroegbunam, Doucoure; Harrison, Calvert-Lewin, McNeil.

Prediction

This clash has mostly been one-sided over the years, with Spurs dominating.

It will likely be the same on Saturday afternoon with the North London side tipped to dominate their opponents and will hope the likes of Solanke and Son will find their scoring boots.

Everton on the other hand looks to be all over the place with little cohesion on the pitch.

Understandably, Young’s red card dropped the team’s momentum but they never really looked threatening finishing the match with only one shot on goal.

However, Sean Dyche always has a surprise in his hat and has beaten the odds in the past seasons to upset tough opponents.

This match might come too soon for Everton to pull a trick.

We’re predicting a 3-1 win for Tottenham.