Tottenham vs Everton: De Zerbi's Pressure and Moyes' Ambition

Tottenham Hotspur go into today’s clash with Everton staring up at almost the entire Premier League. Eighteenth in the table, one win in five, goals drying up in the league. This is not the start Roberto De Zerbi imagined.

Everton arrive in north London with a very different mood. Eighth place, a sturdier look, and a growing sense that David Moyes has them trending in the right direction. They have taken points at Old Trafford, brushed aside Crystal Palace and cruised past Preston North End in the Carabao Cup. This feels like an opportunity.

Kick-off is at 17:30 on 12 September 2026.

Spurs thin, Everton strong

De Zerbi’s options are stretched. Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Dejan Kulusevski are all out injured, stripping Tottenham of creativity and one‑v‑one threat in the final third. The Italian coach may be bold by necessity rather than choice.

If fitness checks are passed, the projected Spurs XI is:

• Kinsky;
• Porro, Van de Ven, Van Hecke, Udogie;
• Fernandes, Tonali, Bentancur;
• Savio, Tel, Marmoush.

It’s a side that leans on energy and ball progression from deep, but it also piles a lot of responsibility on young forwards to turn possession into goals. Recent evidence suggests that has been a problem. Tottenham’s last league outing, a 0-0 home draw with Nottingham Forest, underlined their blunt edge after a 0-2 defeat to Newcastle United the week before.

The one bright spark in that stretch? A 5-1 dismantling of Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup. Five goals, confidence, movement, ideas. De Zerbi needs that version of Spurs to show up against Premier League opposition.

Everton, by contrast, look almost fully stocked. Christian Noergaard is the only confirmed absentee, leaving Moyes with a settled core and the luxury of consistency in selection.

Their projected XI:

• Pickford;
• Maitland-Niles, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Mykolenko;
• Garner, Dewsbury-Hall, Armstrong;
• George, Roehl, Barry.

It’s a hard-running, well-balanced side: height and aggression at the back, legs and bite in midfield, and enough pace up front to hurt teams on the break. That blend has already delivered a 2-2 draw at Manchester United and a controlled 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Form lines heading in opposite directions

The recent numbers tell the story.

Tottenham: one win, one draw, three defeats in their last five competitive matches. Eight scored, five conceded. On paper, that goal difference doesn’t scream crisis, but context matters. The bulk of those goals came in the cup thrashing of Charlton. In the league, they have struggled to turn possession into clear chances.

Everton: two wins, two draws, one defeat from their last five, with eight scored and only four conceded. The Toffees are not blowing teams away, but they are efficient and increasingly hard to break down. Moyes has built from the back and let the attacking patterns grow around that platform.

Just when it looked like Everton might wobble, they produced that ruthless 4-0 Carabao Cup win over Preston North End. It was the kind of professional, no-drama display that top-half sides deliver as a matter of course. That is the level Moyes is quietly targeting.

Recent history favours Spurs, but only just

Tottenham’s recent record in this fixture offers a sliver of comfort. The last meeting between the sides, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in May 2026, ended 1-0 to Spurs. Across the last five head-to-head clashes, Tottenham have taken three wins, with one draw and one Everton victory.

That lone Everton success in the sequence came at Goodison Park in January 2025, a 3-2 thriller that showed how chaotic this match-up can become when the game opens up. If Spurs’ fragile confidence meets Everton’s growing belief, the tempo could spike quickly.

High stakes at both ends of the table

Strip it back, and the stakes are clear.

Tottenham, in 18th, need points. Not for optics, not for narrative, but to stop a poor start from hardening into a genuine relegation fight. De Zerbi has been hired to build something expansive and modern. Right now, he simply has to win.

Everton, sitting eighth, have a different target. A result in north London would do more than pad the points column; it would strengthen the sense that they belong in the top half, that this is not just a hot streak but the new normal under Moyes.

One club trying to escape the bottom three, another trying to prove it has outgrown mid-table drift. The question is simple: which version of these two sides turns up when the whistle goes at 17:30?