Full Time
Tottenham were held goalless at home by Everton, with the visitors arguably shading the chances in a game that never really got going. Neither keeper was seriously tested and it finished as a fair result on the balance of play. It continues a rocky start for Spurs, who are still searching for their first win of the season and find themselves down near the bottom of the table. Everton remain winless too but have at least stayed unbeaten, drawing yet again to sit in the middle of the pack.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Spurs go into this sitting 18th with just a single point from three games, not the kind of start anyone at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was picturing back in August. Everton, by contrast, are unbeaten and up in 8th on five points, so three points here would look like proof they're not just plucky underdogs this season. For Spurs it's simpler: stop the bleeding, or the pressure on the manager starts getting loud.
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2History says this should be straightforward for Tottenham. They've won their last five home games against Everton and lost just once in their last 17 at home to the Toffees, a handy record to have when your attack has gone missing. Everton haven't won away in the league in six attempts either, so recent form on both sides of that stat points the same way, even if this season's league table says something different.
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3Keep an eye on Iliman Ndiaye for Everton. He's reportedly the player Manchester United are sniffing around, with a move currently stuck because nobody's sure what's happening with Marcus Rashford. Nothing motivates a forward quite like being the transfer gossip of the week, and if he has a big afternoon at Spurs, expect the noise around him to get considerably louder.
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4Tottenham are navigating early turbulence under Roberto De Zerbi, who admitted this week that 'the fans are waiting for a signal from us' — management-speak for 'yes, we know it's been bad'. Spurs haven't scored in any of their three league games so far, and with Maddison only just working his way back from a shoulder injury and Kulusevski, Odobert and Simons all still out, De Zerbi's attacking options are thin. Everton have their own worry in James Garner, whose fitness issue at least gave Ainsley Maitland-Niles the chance to make an instant impact off the bench.
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5Tottenham are one of only three Premier League clubs yet to score a single goal this season, and a blank here would mean four scoreless league games to start a campaign, something that's never happened in the club's history. That's the kind of stat that makes even neutral fans want to tune in just to see whether the curse breaks, or gets worse.
Team Talking Points
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1Spurs lost 1-0 at Leeds last Saturday. Noah Okafor came off the bench and scored 11 minutes from the end. It ended a decent run for Tottenham, and it ended Leeds' five-game winless streak, which made it even more annoying.
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2Manager Roberto De Zerbi lost his temper over a second-half booking for Pedro Porro and got booked himself. That earns him a one-game touchline ban, so he'll be stuck in the stands for the first game back, at home to Ipswich on Saturday 21 November.
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3De Zerbi is the permanent boss after a busy spell in the dugout. Thomas Frank was sacked and Igor Tudor had a short interim stint before De Zerbi arrived. Spurs fans have had a lot of new names to learn.
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4Fan reaction to Leeds has been grumpy. Some supporters' sites have criticised De Zerbi's tactics, and there's been chat about Porro's form and Mohammed Kudus being left isolated out on the right wing. Mention Kudus looking lonely and you'll sound like you watched the whole 90 minutes.
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5To be fair, it was only their second league defeat in eight games, so this isn't a crisis. Just don't tell that to a Spurs fan the week after losing at Elland Road.
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Top thing to say down the pub
De Zerbi's going to be watching the Ipswich game from the stands, which is probably the calmest he'll be all season.
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Avoid saying
"Typical Spurs." Fans have heard it from every rival since about 1961, and it hits harder after a late defeat at Leeds. You'll get an eye-roll and a lecture about the Europa League trophy.
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1Everton are fifth in the Premier League after coming from behind to beat promoted Coventry 3-1 last Friday. It was their third league win in a row. If you'd told an Everton fan a couple of years ago they'd be looking down on most of the league in November, they'd have asked what you were drinking.
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2Thierno Barry was the hero, scoring twice in about four minutes and setting up another, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall adding the third. Barry is the name to drop right now. He's turned into exactly the kind of big, awkward centre-forward Goodison fans always loved, now playing at the new stadium.
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3David Moyes was refreshingly honest afterwards. He admitted Coventry made it 'really difficult' and Everton were lucky not to concede a penalty for a James Tarkowski challenge before half-time. Managers who admit they got away with one are rare, so enjoy it.
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4That win was Moyes's 592nd game in charge of Everton, level with Harry Catterick for the most in the club's history. Catterick won two league titles, so it's a proper bit of company. Assuming he's in the dugout at Brentford on 23 November, Moyes takes the record outright.
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5The fixture list after the break is spicy, with a Merseyside derby against Liverpool coming up in the next few weeks. For the first time in a long while, Everton might go into it higher up the table than their neighbours care to admit.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Moyes is about to become the longest-serving manager in Everton's history, and the team's actually playing like it. Fifth in November isn't a fluke anymore.
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Avoid saying
"Everton are always in a relegation scrap" — that line was depressingly accurate for a while, which is exactly why fans in the top five will take great pleasure in correcting you.