NOTE: There will be no live blog running or instant reaction published, most of the RBM crew are either at the game or otherwise unavailable. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Preview

The inconsistent Everton of Marco Silva’s first season are back. After contriving to lose at Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend and then sleepwalking through the first half against a miserable Watford FC midweek, the Blues finally came alive in the second half to book their passage to the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup - a not unfavourable home date against Leicester City.

Silva’s lineup choices this season have been a matter of much debate, but what is in no doubt is that if the team comes out of the gates looking flat then it’s virtually impossible they will get a favourable result. So will he go aggressive and look to push the pace in the middle especially knowing that Spurs will employ the high press, or will he go ultra-defensive in an attempt to shield his wobbly defence?

Tottenham Hotspur are struggling with their own issues this season, covered well here in our Q&A with Spurs blog Cartilage Free Captain. However, it is ominous for the Blues that no matter what form they’ve been in, they’ve ruled the roost against us in the last ten clashes, winning six and drawing four. The last two times they visited Goodison the score ended 3-0 and 6-2, and not in the Toffees favour.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have struggled this season where Everton have too, breaking down teams that sit deep and play the low block. And truly, the Toffees best chance of getting points in this game will be to frustrate the visitors in this manner too.

However, just like West Ham United who came to Goodison and instead of smartly sitting deep, tried to play an expansive game and got outclassed by us, it is very likely that if Silva attempts to get too creative or play a three-man backline or something inventive, we’ll play right into Spurs hands and get mauled.

If there ever was a time to play David Moyes football, today is it, which is incidentally the last time we got a win against Tottenham too - Dec 2012 with Nikica Jelavic popping up to kill Spurs 2-1 late on.

Match Details

Competition: Premier League Matchday 11

Date and start time: Sunday, November 3rd at 8:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m ET / 4:30 p.m. BST

Stadium: Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

Capacity: 39,572

Weather: 52°F/11°C, showers, 51% chance of precipitation, 12 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: NBCSN, Telemundo - United States; Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event - United Kingdom; DAZN - Canada, beIN Sports HD 2, SuperSport 3 Africa, RMC Sport 1, Canal+ France

Radio: evertontv, TalkSport Radio World, SiriusXM FC, BBC Radio 5 Live

Live stream: NBC Sports App, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, SKY GO Extra, ESPN Play Sur, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH

Gamethread: Live blog above starting one hour before game time

*Royal Blue Mersey has affiliate partnerships and may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links provided.

Information from LiveSoccerTV.com

Lineups

Everton

Tottenham

Last Meeting

The Blues played Tottenham in the last game of the 2018-19 season in their new home in North London in a dead rubber game, with neither side having anything to play for. In a pretty entertaining affair, with Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun getting the goals in a 2-2 draw.

Walcott had also scored in the previous game, getting the Blues off to a flying start at Goodison Park, before a disallowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal and a horrendous miscommunication between Jordan Pickford and Kurt Zouma allowed the equalizer and the game ran away from the Blues 6-2.