Everton travelled to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon, having won four consecutive games in the Premier League for the first time in three years.
It was also the first time since 2002 that the Toffees won four games in a row without conceding a single goal. However, Sean Dyche’s men were unable to come away with anything from the game as two early strikes from Richarlison and Son Heung-min sealed the win despite a late fightback by the visitors.
While Dyche was aggrieved by certain refereeing decisions, the manager will also be disappointed with some of his players’ displays in London and one man in particular may be forced out of the side through injury.
Idrissa Gueye’s game in numbers
It’s not been a great week for Everton’s double-pivot of Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana. The pair missed their penalties on Tuesday as the Merseyside club bowed out of the EFL Cup in a shootout against Fulham but started together once more at the weekend.
Nevertheless, Everton were two goals down within 18 minutes. The duo played a massive helping hand in both of Spurs’ goals.
Both Gueye and Onana failed to adequately close down Pape Matar Sarr as he slid the ball into Brennan Johnson whose cross reached Richarlison for the opening goal. Meanwhile, the midfield partners were the two closest players to Son as he bagged Spurs’ second and didn’t react quickly enough to stop his rebound strike.
Both men were handed a dismal 4/10 match rating by the Liverpool Echo for their performances in the middle of the park which reflects worse on Onana considering Gueye limped off in the 24th minute.
The Belgium international committed three fouls, was dribbled past once, and lost 56% of his total duels and 50% of his tackles, according to FotMob.
Minutes Played
24
79
Passing Accuracy
63%
85%
Touches
9
38
Passes To Final Third
1
4
Tackles
1
1
Defensive Actions
1
7
Recoveries
1
4
Dribbled Past
1
1
Gueye and Onana look awkward as a pair together and will likely be broken up when Manchester City come to town on Wednesday, particularly since Gueye went off injured, although this does mean that Onana may keep his place. Nevertheless, this could work in Everton's favour as it did on Saturday following one man's return.
Andre Gomes’ game in numbers
Andre Gomes’ time at Goodison Park has been blighted with a series of serious and recurring injuries. This season, the former Barcelona man had spent practically the entire campaign on the sidelines but recently began making a return to action with Everton’s U21s.
In a 5-0 win for the reserves against Southampton at the beginning of December, Gomes stayed on the pitch for 60 minutes, with U21s boss Paul Tait describing him as a “top-class player”, commending his composure and quality on the ball.
Nevertheless, due to a hamstring injury to Abdoulaye Doucoure, Everton’s midfield depth was looking quite bare on the bench, meaning Dyche had to throw Gomes into the deep end and the Portugal international certainly swam, grabbing the side’s only goal of the game which was the catalyst behind a potential late comeback by the Toffees, although it wasn’t to be in the end.
However, Gomes showed both Onana and Gueye up, having created two chances during his 66 minutes on the pitch and played six passes into the final third. Additionally, Gomes put a shift in defensively for his side and made five ball recoveries which was the same number as Gueye and Onana combined, as per FotMob.
Touches
41
Passing Accuracy %
81
Chances Created
2
Expected Assists
0.11
Expected Goals
0.07
Passes Into Final Third
6
Defensive Actions
3
Dribbled Past
1
Ball Recoveries
5
Despite his limited game-time this season, the £120k-per-week star looked levels above Everton’s starting double pivot, and with Gueye potentially out through injury, the 30-year-old could find himself back in the starting lineup quicker than anticipated, with Dyche's side set to take on league champions Manchester City on Wednesday night.