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“Hello Rob,” writes Kári Tulinius. “On a weekend where the other faces in the Premier League’s Rogue’s Gallery of Frustrating Forwards all scored, Núñez, Traoré and Havertz, it probably exemplifies Timo Werner’s poor luck that he’s out injured. He was bound to score a hat trick today.”
Is Dominic Calvert-Lewin a member of that club yet?
A reminder of the teams in our main game
Everton (4-2-3-1) Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye; Lindstrom, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin.
Substitutes: Virginia, Begovic, Patterson, Keane, Harrison, Beto, Young, Armstrong, Sherif.
Tottenham Hotspur (possible 4-3-3) Kinsky; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Spence; Bergvall, Gray, Sarr; Kulusevski, Son, Maddison.
Substitutes: Austin, Reguilon, Richarlison, Yang, Lankshear, Moore, Olusesi, Hardy, Ajayi.
Referee Darren England.
It’s a bland old team to support
“Truth be told, there wasn’t much different on Wednesday under Moyes than in most games this season,” writes Gary Naylor. “One mistake, one moment of competence from the opposition and a defeat.
“I really want to see some evidence that the players have some plans to create chances from corners, free kicks and throw-ins today. For a team lacking pace and confidence, they’re the best routes to making chances. We can’t have players standing still looking at each other while the taker wonders what to do. Happened too often vs Villa.”
Ange Postecoglou said Dominic Solanke injured his knee in training, which sounds ominous. He didn’t reveal their set-up but said the returning Ben Davies probably won’t be able to play 90 minutes.
“On the subject of injuries Manchester United had the most injuries last season with 45 separate player injuries,” says Rick Harris, “but Spurs topped the table for most individual players injured (22) although seven other clubs including United, Liverpool, Newcastle, Brighton, Aston Villa and Chelsea had either 21 or 20 individual players injured.
“Top of the table for total days lost to injury by a distance was Newcastle United with 1950. Last season was 19% more injury affected than 2022/23 and the highest level of injuries recorded in the PL era. I think the current Spurs injury situation while not great is not yet as bad as last season.”
I was referring to quality of player and variety of positions rather than quantity. That said, I’m sure there have been worse – I remember Man Utd had a stinking injury list around December 2009, as did Arsenal at various stages of their Double-winning season in 2001-02. But Spurs are without at least six of their best XI, arguably eight.
The Premier League table at the start of play
This is a cracking read on an underrated player who marked one of the all-time greats out of a Champions League final
Read Max Rushden on Big Ange
A lot of Premier League fans and pundits are quick to dismiss his achievements elsewhere. The A-League, the J-League, Scotland. If anything, the Scottish Premiership is a bit of an outlier compared to his previous successes.
The Sydney Morning Herald sports reporter Vince Rugari wrote Angeball: The definitive biography of Ange Postecoglou. “Celtic is the only time he’s clearly had the best/richest team in the league,” he says. “In every job he’s had he’s faced exactly the same questions/criticisms as he is now: he must adapt, it won’t work at this level, he’s naive, been found out, no plan B. Every time he’s proved that sort of narrative totally wrong.
The Spurs injured XI (4-2-3-1) Vicario; Token right-back, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Bentancur; Johnson, Odobert, Werner; Solanke.
That’s about as bad an injury list as I can recall in the Premier League era.
Man Utd v Brighton team news
Man Utd (3-4-2-1) Onana; Yoro, Maguire, de Ligt; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dalot; Diallo, Fernandes; Zirkzee.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Martinez, Hojlund, Malacia, Eriksen, Garnacho, Casemiro, Antony, Collyer.
Brighton (4-2-3-1) Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, van Hecke, Estupinan; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, Joao Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck.
Substitutes: Steele, Lamptey, Webster, March, Enciso, Adingra, Rutter, Gomez, McConville.
Referee Peter Bankes
Nottm Forest v Southampton team news
Nottm Forest (4-2-3-1) Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Dominguez, Anderson, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.
Substitutes: Morato, Awoniyi, Ward-Prowse, Alex, Jota Silva, Yates, Sosa, Boly, Carlos Miguel.
Southampton (3-4-1-2) Ramsdale; Bree, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis; Sugawara, Downes, Aribo, Walker-Peters; Fernandes; Armstrong, Archer.
Substitutes: McCarthy, Manning, Smallbone, Wood-Gordon,
Sulemana, Fraser, Ugochukwu, Onuachu, Bella-Kotchap.
Referee Anthony Taylor
Everton v Tottenham team news
David Moyes makes two changes from the defeat to Aston Villa, both on the right-hand side. Jake O’Brien and Jesper Lindstrom replace Ashley Young and Jack Harrison.
Spurs are without Dominic Solanke, Yves Bissouma and Brennan Johnson. Ben Davies and James Maddison return to the starting XI. I’ve no idea who is playing where. Djed Spence on the left wing? Maddison as a false nine? Maddison playing from the left with Son up front?
Everton (4-2-3-1) Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye; Lindstrom, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin.
Substitutes: Virginia, Begovic, Patterson, Keane, Harrison, Beto, Young, Armstrong, Sherif.
Tottenham Hotspur (possible 4-3-3) Kinsky; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Spence; Bergvall, Gray, Sarr; Kulusevski, Son, Maddison.
Substitutes: Austin, Reguilon, Richarlison, Yang, Lankshear, Moore, Olusesi, Hardy, Ajayi.
Referee Darren England.
“Wonder if, once Postecoglou and Moyes take their place on the touchline, they’ll share a grim, understanding look at each other about derbies,” says Kieran McKintosh. “Postecoglou having just come off worse from one, and Moyes just about to go into an even bigger one. Moyes in the dugout for the final derby at Goodison Park will make for some cracking nostalgia, though.”
I fully expect Tim Cahill and Andy Johnson to sign temporary deals, just for that game.
Before the game against Brighton, Manchester United will pay tribute to one of the most coruscating and charismatic strikers ever to walk the earth.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Everton v Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park. Once upon a time these two clubs were part of England’s Big Five. Right now, even though Spurs are usually included among the Big Six, they and Everton are in the actual bottom six.
While there are mitigating circumstances, most notably Spurs’ grotesque injury list, this is not what either club had in mind. Everton are in another relegation battle; Spurs have redefined the concept of Spursiness by dropping to 15th place while also being arguably the most exciting team in the country.
Styles make fights, and Everton (goals for 15, against 26) and Spurs (F43, A32) could barely be more different. Let’s hope it makes for a cracker.
We’ll also have goal updates from the other games, Manchester United v Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest v Southampton. But Everton v Spurs will be our main focus, mainly because it’s the only match that is actually being televised in the UK.
Kick off 2pm.
