Everton Predicted XI vs Tottenham: Grealish Set to Start
Everton travel to north London with scars. One goal in their last five league visits to Tottenham tells its own story. Same stadium, same fixture, same problems. That pattern has to snap at some point. David Moyes will hope it is this weekend.
The build-up has been stripped of noise. No grand statements, no training-ground theatrics. Those around Finch Farm talk about players and staff “mucking in”, a club quietly trying to steady itself after a mixed start. For Everton, dull headlines in August are often a blessing.
Tottenham, though, are the ones under the harsher glare. More than £250 million spent in the summer, one point from three games, no goals. That combination turns early-season questions into early-season pressure. Everton sense an opening, but anyone assuming Spurs will simply oblige has not been paying attention to this league for very long.
Grealish call transforms Everton’s outlook
The headline decision belongs to Jack Grealish. Moyes confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the England international is ready to start, and that single call shifts the tone of Everton’s attack.
Grealish offers control. He carries the ball through traffic, buys fouls, dictates tempo. He can drag a game down to walking pace or rip it open with one sharp burst. For a side that has often lacked composure in the final third on this ground, that matters.
Midfield, though, is not fully settled. There was no clear update on James Garner after he limped off last week, leaving a question mark over his involvement from the first whistle. Christian Nørgaard is still out and not expected back until after the international break, the only confirmed absentee at this stage.
The rest of the squad is familiar. Jordan Pickford, Mark Travers and King provide the goalkeeping options. At the back, Moyes can choose from Jarrad Branthwaite, Michael Keane, Jake O'Brien, James Tarkowski, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Nathan Patterson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Further forward, the pool includes Harrison Armstrong, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Garner, Hayden Hackney, Merlin Röhl, Charly Alcaraz, Tyler Dibling, Tyrique George, Brennan Johnson, Grealish and Thierno Barry.
Shape, balance and the Hackney question
Tactically, Everton are expected to stick with the 4-1-4-1 used throughout pre-season. It gives Moyes a solid spine, a single pivot in front of the defence and four players who can press or create in support of the lone striker.
If Garner is not deemed ready to start, Hayden Hackney is in line to anchor midfield. He came off the bench last weekend and immediately lifted the tempo, snapping into tackles and using the ball with more clarity than some around him. That cameo may have earned him the nod.
The likely XI reads: Pickford in goal; a back four of Mykolenko, Branthwaite, Tarkowski and Maitland-Niles; Hackney sitting deepest; Grealish, Dewsbury-Hall and Röhl forming the central creative band. Out wide, Tyrique George has done enough to keep his place, while Thierno Barry is expected to lead the line.
Predicted XI: Jordan Pickford; Ainsley Maitland-Niles, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitaliy Mykolenko; Hayden Hackney; Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Merlin Röhl; Tyrique George; Thierno Barry.
It is a side built for structure first, with just enough flair to hurt a vulnerable Tottenham if the game opens up.
Thin bench, big decisions
The bench will not frighten anyone. That is Everton’s reality this season, and Moyes knows he will have to squeeze every drop from his starters.
Travers, Keane and O'Brien offer defensive cover. Armstrong brings energy for the final half-hour, the kind of legs that can change the tone of a contest chasing a result. Alcaraz and Dibling are there to tweak rhythm and add invention between the lines if the game drifts.
Then there is Brennan Johnson. Quiet last weekend, yes, but with obvious motivation should he be thrown into the fray, especially against a side under scrutiny.
Garner’s fitness remains the one variable that could force a late rethink. If there is any doubt, though, Everton will not gamble this early in the campaign. The season is too long, and the margins too fine, to risk a key midfielder on a hunch.
Everton need precision, not just perspiration
The assignment is brutally simple. Everton must be organised, aggressive and far more ruthless than they have been on recent trips to this ground. Effort alone will not be enough. Shape has to hold. Concentration cannot waver. When chances arrive, they have to be taken.
If Grealish settles quickly into the contest and Hackney brings the balance Moyes is banking on, Everton have a clear route into the game. If those pieces misfire, it threatens to become another draining afternoon in north London.
This is more than just a test of tactics. It is a test of whether this Everton side can finally rip up an old script that has run far too long.
