Everton Predicted XI vs Tottenham: Jack Grealish Set to Start
Everton head to north London with the numbers stacked against them and no point dressing it up. One goal in their last five visits to Tottenham tells its own story. This is a ground where they have too often shrunk. That has to change.
History doesn’t decide the afternoon, but it does shine a light on habits. Everton’s recent habit here has been to leave quietly, empty-handed.
Moyes strips it back
David Moyes has taken the hint from a mixed start and gone back to basics this week. Training has been described as everyone “mucking in” – players, staff, no egos, no drama. Exactly what you expect when a team knows it has more to give and little to shout about yet.
No noise, no grand statements. Just work. For this Everton squad, that’s not the worst place to be.
Across the halfway line, Tottenham arrive in a very different kind of storm. More than £250 million spent in the summer, one point from three league games, and not a single goal scored. That combination turns up the heat very quickly in north London.
For Everton, that chaos is an opening. Spurs are vulnerable, confidence is fragile and the crowd is restless. But anyone assuming Tottenham will simply fold hasn’t been paying attention to this league for long. Wounded sides bite.
Grealish changes the picture
The headline for Everton is simple: Jack Grealish starts. Moyes confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the England international is ready to come back into the XI, and that immediately shifts the feel of Everton’s attack.
Grealish offers control on the ball, carries it through tight spaces and dictates tempo. He can slow a game down to breathe, or quicken it with one sharp drive inside. Everton have missed that kind of authority between the lines.
There is less clarity over James Garner. He limped off last weekend and Moyes has not given a firm update, leaving a question mark in midfield. Christian Nørgaard is still out but expected back after the international break, which, as it stands, makes him the only confirmed absentee.
The rest of the squad is available: Jordan Pickford, Mark Travers and King as the goalkeeping options; Jarrad Branthwaite, Michael Keane, Jake O'Brien, James Tarkowski, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Nathan Patterson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles at the back.
Higher up the pitch, Moyes can turn to Harrison Armstrong, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Garner, Hayden Hackney, Merlin Röhl, Charly Alcaraz, Tyler Dibling, Tyrique George, Brennan Johnson, Grealish and Thierno Barry.
Shape and likely XI
Everton are expected to stick with the 4-1-4-1 that underpinned their pre-season work. It’s a structure Moyes trusts: one sitter, energy either side, width from the front line.
If Garner is not ready to start, Hayden Hackney is in line to anchor the midfield. He came off the bench last weekend and immediately lifted the tempo, sharper and more decisive than some of those around him. That cameo has pushed him to the front of the queue.
The likely XI reads:
- Jordan Pickford in goal
- A back four of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitaliy Mykolenko
- Hackney as the deepest midfielder
- Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Merlin Röhl offering support and craft ahead of him
- Tyrique George keeping his place out wide
- Thierno Barry leading the line
Tyrique George has earned that starting spot. His work rate and willingness to run have stood out, and Moyes tends to reward that. Barry, meanwhile, gives Everton a focal point: someone to occupy centre-backs, stretch the game and create room for Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall to operate.
Thin bench, tight calls
The bench will not intimidate anyone. That is Everton’s reality this season and Moyes knows he will have to manage minutes and momentum carefully.
Travers, Keane and O'Brien provide defensive cover. Armstrong offers late energy and pressing, with Alcaraz and Dibling able to inject something different if the game drifts. Brennan Johnson, quiet last weekend, still carries obvious motivation and threat if he is turned to against his former club’s rivals.
Garner’s fitness remains the one variable that could shuffle the pack. If he is available, Moyes has a decision to make over the balance of his midfield. If he is not, there is little sense risking him this early in the campaign.
More than just hard graft
Everton know exactly what this fixture demands. Organisation. Aggression. Concentration. Those are the basics, and they have fallen short on at least one of them too often at Tottenham.
But effort alone will not be enough. They must be ruthless in the final third, something they have rarely managed on this ground. Chances will not come in waves; when they appear, they have to count.
If Grealish dictates early and Hackney brings the control Moyes wants at the base of midfield, Everton have a clear route into the contest. If those pieces misfire, it risks becoming another long, unforgiving afternoon in north London – and another reminder of a pattern they are desperate to break.
