Three Premier League games in, and Tottenham are already in the bottom three. Roberto De Zerbi’s side have scored zero league goals, conceded five, and collected just one point from their opening fixtures, leaving them 18th in the table. Everton arrive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday in considerably better shape, eighth in the table and unbeaten through three league matches. The contrast between these two clubs’ starts to the 2026-27 season is striking, and it sets up a game that matters more to the hosts than they would want to admit.
What’s at stake
Tottenham sit 18th with one point, their only return coming from last weekend’s goalless draw at Nottingham Forest. Two defeats, both without scoring, bookend that result: a 3-0 loss at Brentford on matchday 2 and a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle on matchday 1. A club of Tottenham’s size sitting in the relegation zone this early is not a panic-station scenario with 35 games still to play, but the goal difference of minus five and the absence of any attacking output in the league are harder to dismiss. De Zerbi, brought in to play expansive football, has yet to see that translated onto a Premier League pitch.
A win for Tottenham on Saturday would lift them off the bottom three, depending on results elsewhere, and give De Zerbi’s project its first signs of life. For Everton, three points would push David Moyes’s side into the top half and put them within reach of the Europa League places currently occupied by Brentford in fifth. A draw does little for either side: Tottenham remain in the danger zone, Everton stay mid-table without the momentum a win would bring.
How they got here
Tottenham’s only bright moment across their last five competitive matches came in the League Cup, a 5-1 win over Charlton that looks increasingly like a false indicator. In the league, De Zerbi’s side have been shut out in both defeats and mustered nothing against a mid-table Forest side. Everton’s form tells a different story: a 2-0 home win over Crystal Palace, a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth, then a 2-2 draw with Manchester United last Sunday in which they showed enough to suggest this is a team that can compete with the league’s established names.
Everton are eighth on five points, level with Brentford, Liverpool, and Newcastle. Tottenham are 18th on one point, a single position above Fulham and Coventry on zero. The gap between the two sides going into this game is four points, which, in these early stages, represents a meaningful difference in the confidence levels of the two squads.
Key battle to watch
The central question for Tottenham is whether De Zerbi can unlock any kind of attacking threat from a squad that, on paper, looks well-stocked. Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, and Sandro Tonali are all in the building, yet the league goals column reads zero. Everton will be happy to sit compact and let Tottenham try to build, with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Christian Norgaard offering plenty of defensive structure in midfield. If Spurs cannot find a way through an organized Everton block, the pressure on De Zerbi after just four matchdays becomes very real.
Key Stats
Match Context
Standings
Head To Head
Our Prediction
History is firmly on Tottenham’s side in this fixture: six wins from their last ten meetings, including a 4-0 home demolition of Everton in August 2024 and a 1-0 win at Spurs as recently as May 2026. But the Tottenham that produced those results had momentum and cohesion that De Zerbi’s side have not yet found. Everton’s unbeaten start, their ability to hold Manchester United to a draw at Goodison, and their defensive solidity suggest they are well-placed to frustrate a Spurs side still searching for its first league goal. A draw feels like the most likely outcome, though Tottenham’s home record against Everton makes a home win entirely plausible if De Zerbi finds his attacking combination at last.