Tottenham’s Historic Goal Drought Deepens in Everton Stalemate

LONDON — Tottenham Hotspur failed to score in their opening four league matches of a season for the first time in the club’s history after a severely depleted side drew 0-0 with Everton on Saturday.

The result gave Roberto De Zerbi’s team only its second point of the campaign, following last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest. Tottenham’s league goal drought has now stretched beyond seven hours of football, while sporadic boos echoed around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the final whistle.

Everton, unbeaten in five matches across all competitions, created the match’s most dangerous chances despite Tottenham controlling long periods of possession. The Toffees repeatedly targeted Tottenham’s high defensive line with quick transitions.

Tottenham’s lineup had been reshaped by a punishing early-season injury crisis. Starting full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie were absent, as were midfielder Xavi Simons and wingers Mykhailo Mudryk, Dejan Kulusevski, and Wilson Odobert. Dominic Solanke made his first league start of the season, while James Maddison returned to the bench after a shoulder injury.

Former Premier League goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer criticised Tottenham’s reliance on defensive players to create attacking momentum.

“One worry, for me, is that you’re relying on [Jan Paul] van Hecke for a lot of your deliveries inside the box,” Schwarzer told BBC Radio 5 Live. “You’ve got all this creativity on the team and it’s the centre-back who’s their playmaker for everything.”

Everton’s Brennan Johnson missed the best opportunity of the match in the second half. The winger, who played for Tottenham between 2023 and 2025 before a spell at Crystal Palace and a subsequent move to Everton, failed to meet a precise, sweeping cross from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

“It was a brilliant cross from Dewsbury-Hall – really good,” Schwarzer noted. “He knows exactly where Brennan Johnson is. He just comes across it, opens up his body with an open foot and kind of slides across the ball. Therefore, it just flies out high and right of the goal. Massive chance – absolutely huge.”

Young Everton winger Tyrique George also came close in the first half, but his goalbound effort was blocked by Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur. George later supplied a dangerous cross for Thierno Barry, whose header was saved by Tottenham’s young goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky.

Kinsky started because Tottenham’s regular options were injured and endured an erratic afternoon. In the second half, the Czech goalkeeper passed the ball directly to Dewsbury-Hall in a vulnerable position, but sprinted back to block the midfielder’s quick shot.

“He was so, so fortunate,” Schwarzer said of Kinsky’s mistake. “He made a massive mistake and played it straight to Everton. His recovery run, though, was exceptional. It was his own doing, but he had to make amends and he certainly did.”

Tottenham had entered the match with a strong historical record against Everton in North London, losing only one of their previous 17 Premier League home meetings with the Toffees, while recording 12 wins and four draws. Their broader home form has deteriorated, however: across their last 12 league matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs have won just once and kept one clean sheet.

That clean sheet came in a 1-0 victory over Everton on the final day of the 2025/26 season. A defeat on Saturday would have been Tottenham’s 50th Premier League loss at their new stadium.

The scoreless run recalls August and September 2006, when Tottenham last went four consecutive matches without scoring. That sequence also included a home meeting with Everton, which Spurs lost 2-0. Tottenham is now one of only three Premier League teams yet to score this season, alongside Aston Villa and Coventry City.

Everton arrived after a dramatic 2-2 draw against Manchester United, secured by Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ spectacular 96th-minute equalizer. Maitland-Niles made his first Everton start on Saturday in place of the omitted Merlin Rohl, but could not repeat his scoring performance and join Brian McBride, Romelu Lukaku, and Richarlison as the only players to score in both of their first two appearances for the club.

Everton’s high-pressing system continued to disrupt Tottenham’s build-up play. Before the weekend, only Brighton and Crystal Palace had forced more high turnovers than Everton’s 28.

Tottenham Hotspur starting XI: Antonin Kinsky, Archie Gray, Jan Paul van Hecke, Micky van de Ven, Andy Robertson, Savio, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali, Omar Marmoush, Dominic Solanke.

Substitutes: Martin Dubravka, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marcos Senesi, Conor Gallagher, James Maddison, Mathys Tel, Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus, Ben Davies.

Everton starting XI: Jordan Pickford, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko, Brennan Johnson, Harrison Armstrong, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, James Garner, Tyrique George, Thierno Barry.

Substitutes: Mark Travers, Michael Keane, Jack Grealish, Jake O’Brien, Tyler Dibling, Charly Alcaraz, Hayden Hackney, Tom King, Braiden Graham.