Tottenham Hotspur vs. Everton: Match Preview, Projected Lineups & Predictions

Yikes. Tottenham Hotspur is off to a slow start this season, tallying just two points in their first three games thanks to a late game collapse against Leicester City. Seconds after taking a late 1-0 lead on the road (via Dele Alli) Spurs capitulated, giving up the game tying goal. The Spurs attack was hardly decisive, and the team could not slow down Riyad Mahrez all game, eventually ending up with his game tying goal. The tie leaves Spurs still seeking their first win of the competitive season as manager Mauricio Pochettino's seat begins to warm.

Traveling to White Hart Lane on Saturday is Everton, sitting 7th in the table with four points on the season. The Toffees have been led by a dynamic attack so far this season, as the combo of Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley have tallied two goals apiece. The Everton defense has yet to settle though, struggling as young centerback John Stones is perhaps distracted by the possible Chelsea transfer looming over his head. Roberto Martinez will look to bring the best out of his defense against a Spurs side with a stop-start attack.

Can Spurs finally tally their first league win at home, or will they continue to struggle to finish out games? We shall see.

Match Information

Date/time: Saturday, August 15, 5:30 p.m. (UK), 12:30 pm ET (USA)
Venue: White Hart Lane, London, UK
Official: Mike Jones
TV: NBC (USA), Sky Sports 1 (UK), Sportsnet One (Canada), Fox Sports 4 (Australia), other listings at livesoccertv.com
Streaming: NBCS Live Extra (USA), audio streamed at tottenhamhotspur.com

Projected Lineup

The big miss for Tottenham Hotspur today will be clear, as talismanic attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen looks likely to be absent as he recovers from injury. Our team at CFC believes that young midfielder Dele Alli is most likely to fill in for Eriksen, as Alli looks to replicate his strong performance from last week--when he scored his first ever Premier League goal. Otherwise the lineup looks to be largely the same as last week, with Danny Rose coming in for Ben Davies as the Englishman is back to full strength.

Prediction League

As for the Prediction League, Ed dropped another perfect prediction in foreseeing Spurs draw with Leicester, growing his sole possession of the league lead. The rules remain the same in the Prediction League -- one point for a correct prediction and a bonus point for getting the score correct. Here are the current standings:

Michael Caley: We will probably have to wait for the beginning of the Heung-Min Son era at Spurs, but the age of Dele Alli began last week and should continue. Spurs 2-1.

Bryan A.: You know what everyone loves? Draws. My fiance gets angry (or faux angry, whatever) whenever I tell her that Spurs have drawn. I don't care though, because a draw means that we will not have two points from eight games. 1-1 Draw

GN_Punk: If you want a serious position, Kane gets on the board this week. Spurs will have a tough task of keeping Lukaku and company at bay, but if we play a solid 90 minutes, Spurs can get the first W of the season. 2-0 Spurs

Mechanick: Everton is tired from midweek and their attack showed cracks last weekend against Manchester City. I have got to believe the Spurs' central defense can hold their international teammate Lukaku and Spurs can somehow get their first win of the season. 1-0 Spurs

Ed F.: 1-0 Everton. Hooooo boy, things are getting ugly.

Skipjack: Spurs win 2-1 when Pochettino takes out his anger from the past three weeks by rage benching anyone over the age of 21 and also Nabil Bentaleb.

Dustin Menno: We have to win SOMETIME, right? I continue to have hope that Spurs can put an actual 90 minutes of good football together and pick up a win against what hopefully is a tired Toffees squad after their midweek Europa qualifier. Plus if we’re lucky John Stones will have moved by then and Spurs will be attacking a back line anchored by the decaying corpse of Phil Jagielka. 2-1 Spurs.

Brett Rainbow: Everton struggle to deal with Spurs' press, but have a little success by playing directly through Barkley and Lukaku. 2-1 Spurs.

Ben Daniels: Roberto Martinez is a fraud. Expect the kind of game where Chadli doesn't do anything but score two crucial goals to give us our first win of the season. 2-1 Spurs.

Kevin McCauley: I don’t really know anything about Spurs or Everton yet. I’ve tried to come up with a justification for a prediction and I can’t do it. This feels like a lottery. Let’s say 2-1 Spurs

55thVin: Harry Kane is the best and he gets the help he needs this week. Our defense finally puts a full shift together although Hugo will still have to produce one or two great saves to keep the clean sheet. 3-0 Spurs

Earl of Shoop: So, unfortunately my secret strategy for winning has been discovered and I have to pick only one scoreline per match. I'm sad about that, but not as sad as I am about the fact that I think we still don't quite have it together yet this season. Doesn't matter, though, because this is Harry Kane's week. I can feel it. Spurs 2-0.

Luke Zimmermann: The law of averages dictate Spurs win this one in emphatic fashion (no, you shut up). I am a more pessimistic being by nature, however, so I'll say Spurs finally get off the schneid, but in a squeaker. The only thing streakier than Tottenham of late's been Roberto Martinez seemingly. Up the Spurs. 1-0 Spurs

Salmon Chase: 3-0 Spurs, because we got good players now, or such is the rumor.