51’ – Oh no!! DCL has pulled one back, but VAR will take it away. Gomes tackled Sarr who gave the ball away very easily, and the midfielder fed in DCL for a delightful low shot. that beat Vicario. Was a 50/50 challenge, and after a VAR review the ref says no goal. Ugh.
50’ – Spurs happy to pass it around and let the Blues tire themselves out.
46’- One change for the hosts before we kickoff, with former Blue Eric Dier replacing Romero.
Halftime Thoughts – Everton really did well coming back into the game after going down two early on, but their finishing woes have been haunting them as they’ve wasted all their chances so far.
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45+6’ – Another cross into the box is poor. The Blues really came into it and have had so many chances to get a goal back. Halftime, 2-0 to the hosts.
45+3’ – McNeil goes down too easily in the box, but the Blues win a corner from more horrendous defending by Spurs. Onana getting his shirt blatantly tugged in the box from the corner, ref sees nothing, says nothing. Of course.
45+2’ – Sublime cross-field pass for Harrison from Gomes, first touch is poor as it takes him into traffic, but he was narrowly offside anyway.
45’ – Five-plus minutes to be added on here after that Gana injury sub.
44’ – Spurs just handing Everton the ball now in their own box, Harrison’s cross comes off Skipp and then goes out off Myko who was crashing the box, better for the Blues where they’ve often had only one salmon shirt in the box for crosses.
42’ – Another shooting chance, this time Garner, not enough sting in it. The Blues are getting plenty of chances handed to them by Spurs trying to play out.
41’ – Garner nicks the ball off Richy, Gomes and DCL combine, cutback to no one though, Onana’s shot wild.
More drama! Another nice passing move comes to a Myko shooting chance, and guess what, there’s two balls on the pitch!! What utter nonsense.
40’ – McNeil puts the ball in the no-man’s land right in front of Vicario and DCL cannot get solid contact before the coming together. Good idea.
38’ – Heavy challenge by Richy on Tarky, it’s a foul and the ref doesn’t book him though, not much different from the tackle that saw Gana booked.
35’ – An error allows Harrison to get the ball and cross into the box, but he can’t find an Everton head and the danger is cleared. Final ball again was wanting.
30’ – Spurs’ high line means there will always be chances for the Blues to get a goal, but with the midfield getting overrun it’s only a matter of how much they concede before that. 29% possession for the Blues.
28’ – Blues lose the ball in the Spurs half and once again Spurs come slashing back with delightful quick passing, corner conceded by Myko. Cleared away.
26’ – Beautiful passing football from Spurs and they scythe right through the Everton lines but Onana pulls down Emerson as he went past him and is booked. Freekick is overhit and Everton survive.
21’ – Everton with some neat interplay in a tight space in the opposing half, but the final ball is poor, we’ve seen that before.
Gana clatters into Richy, and the Everton midfielder will be booked once he’s had medical attention. He’s also coming off it looks like with Andre Gomes making his season debut.
18’ – Spurs corner on the Everton left, taken short, Johnson’s shot beaten away by Pickford falls to Son as he tucks it in with ten Everton shirts standing still. 2-0 to Spurs, and the rout is on.
16’ – Branthwaite’s long ball finds Myko in acres of space on the left, early cross into DCL who gets ahead of Davies, but can’t make solid contact and Vicario’s diving save keeps the Blues off the scoresheet. A solid header would have been adequate for an equalizer.
15’ – Onana finds McNeil in space, ball could have been better, and winger drags a low cross/shot wide.
13’ – Almost two-nil here, as the Everton defence continues to slumber. Emerson’s cross from the left this time, and Johnson gets behind Myko into space but puts his finish well over. Blues very lucky.
9’ – Richarlison strikes. Cutback into the box from Johnson, and Richy gets to it just ahead of Tarky and tucks it in at the near post. 1-0 to the hosts.
8’ – Son fouled, ref plays advantage but the Blues spring the counter with McNeil and a great run down the middle, he finds DCL in space but the first touch is poor, and the second allows Romero to come back and block for a corner.
Corner taken short and the Blues try to recycle it before losing it.
3’ – Everton making a nuisance of themselves as Spurs are trying to play out of the back winning a series of throw-ins, before McNeil gets a corner on the left.
Garner takes it deep partly cleared, Myko hits a bouncing ball back at goal and Vicario collects.
1’ – Underway at Tottenham Stadium and straight away Kulusevski gets free behind Patterson, his cut back is met by Sarr but his connection is poor and Pickford gathers.
Everton
Vitaliy Mykolenko is fit again and starts, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is up top too.
Tottenham
Richarlison starts for the hosts against his former side.
Everton travel to North London to take on Tottenham Hotspur, looking to keep their away form going that has seen them reaping points in recent weeks. Hosts Spurs are an attacking lot with their uniquely high backline and pressing game, but are also not unbeatable.
Competition: Premier League Matchweek 18
Date and start time: Saturday, December 23rd at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m ET / 3:00 p.m. BST
Stadium: Tottenham Stadium, North London, England, United Kingdom
Capacity: 62,850
Weather: 51°F/11°C, cloudy, 0% chance of precipitation, 13 mph winds
TV: Peacock – United States; N/A – United Kingdom; Fubo – Canada, beIN Sports Premium 1, SuperSport Premier League ROA, SuperSport MaXimo 2, Star Sports Select 1
Radio: evertontv, BBC Sport 5 Live
Live stream: Fubo, ESPN Play Sur, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH, Hotstar VIP, JioTV
Gamethread: The live blog will commence an hour before kickoff with the lineup announcements.
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Information from LiveSoccerTV.com
The Toffees have had a miserable record away at Spurs, with the win to start the 2020-21 season behind close doors under Carlo Ancelotti being the only one in well over two decades of futility in North London. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the only goal of the game that day.
