Tottenham Hotspur ensured that they put a frustrating opening game draw against Leicester City behind them by handing Everton a 4-0 drubbing.
Goals from Yves Bissouma, Christian Romero and a brace from Heung Min-Son preserved Tottenham’s unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign.
Below are four things we learnt from watching the game, what players emerged as potential stars and how in danger are the Toffees this season.
Everton are in relegation danger
Sean Dyche’s injury woes with Everton have been well documented with the former Burnley manager having to field the inexperienced Roman Dixon at right-back against Tottenham.
The Toffees hardly exuded any fighting spirit in the game however with Tottenham controlling the game from the very start.
Leicester City provided Everton with the perfect blueprint on how to frustrate Spurs with the key being to not allow the hosts multiple clear-cut chances in the first half, something that Everton categorically failed to do.
Everton shockingly lacked any determination and performed like a side that had already been relegated.
The most damning takeaway from Everton’s performance had to be how easily they allowed Spurs access to their goal, a quality that is usually a rarity in Sean Dyche’s sides.
The Toffees gave up 2.38 xG to Spurs and allowed them seven shots on target, if that number persists throughout Everton’s season they’ll be hard-pressed to keep a clean sheet and with a lack of offensive weapons at their disposal, it could spell trouble.
Tottenham are forming a formidable centre-back pairing
Spurs fans have often bemoaned how their side have struggled to keep a clean sheet under Ange Postecoglou, but today’s performance suggested the Australian is going some way to changing that.
Cristian Romeo and Mickey Van De Ven, when both fit, are gradually forming an impressive partnership with the former’s pace allowing for Romero’s galavanting runs.
It was Van De Ven however who charged forward against Everton with his pace and power practically handing Son Spurs’ fourth of the afternoon with a rarely-seen box-to-box run from the Dutch defender.
Romero also chipped in offensively against Everton, powering a header off the underside of Jordan Pickford’s bar to give Tottenham a comfortable three-goal cushion at the time.
The pair also performed immaculately in defence and if the duo remain available they could start to form a solid partnership, reminiscent of that between Toby Alderweirld and Jan Vertognhen, who bossed White Hart Lane for many years.
Heung-Min Son & Wilson Odobert impress
Fans within and outside of Tottenham questioned whether Heung-Min Son was nearing the end of his time as a top Premier League player, and those doubts were well founded.
The 32-year-old was playing his less favourable position through the centre of attack but handled his role perfectly, often dragging one of Everton’s centre-backs out of defence before shifting the ball out wide to exploit the Toffees full-backs who were struggling to cope with Spurs’ pace.
Meanwhile, recent signing Wilson Odobert, was a surprise inclusion in Ange Postecoglou’s starting XI against Everton but the Frenchman took the challenge in his stride.
Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham have been crying out for a winger who takes on players, and Odobert provided exactly that.
While the teenager only pulled off two of his six attempted dribbles, the number of attempts was two more than any other player on the pitch, despite Odobert playing only just over an hour. (FotMob)
The former Burnley man is still adapting to life at Tottenham and even the Premier League due to him being still so young, but his performance against Everton certainly showcases that he wields the ability to become a top player at Spurs.
Everton are void of creativity
Tottenham impressively extinguished any fires that Everton created for them but the Toffees creative spark is lacking as they failed to conjure a single ‘big chance’.
The visitor’s midfield was almost overrun completely with Tim Iroegbunam and Abdoulaye Doucouré merely passengers in Sean Dyche’s side.
Iroegbunam and Doucouré only amassed a measly 33 touches between them, albeit with the caveat that the former only managed 57 minutes before Sean Dyche substituted the Malian.
Both goalkeepers managed more touches than Everton’s midfield duo combined, a troubling stat that reveals just how absent the pair were from the game.
It wasn’t just Doucouré and Iroegbunam however, the entire Everton team struggled to find a foothold in the game with a dire 75% pass accuracy leading to the hosts boasting 71% of possession.
A low possession stat away to a ‘top six’ team is acceptable if you’re dangerous in transition or effective when you do have the ball, but Everton failed to achieve either criteria.
The Toffees could only create 0.14 xG from open play and although Dyche’s team characteristically pumped over 50 balls long, under half of those actually reached an Everton player.