PLAYER RATINGS: Everton 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur

The Lilywhites dominated the first half and looked dangerous on occasion in the second but couldn’t find the net at Goodison Park as Everton held them to a goalless draw.

Spurs move into the top 4 despite the draw, but it could have been more as we had 16 shots on goal including 6 on target, compared with the Toffees’ 8 (just 1 on target). Soldado and Paulinho had good chances but we couldn’t find a way through, whilst Lloris carried on despite receiving a serious knock to the head and being told by 15 different people that he should come off. In other news, we haven’t conceded a league goal to a team outside of London since May 12^th. bwin sports currently have us down as heavy favourites for victory on Sunday despite Newcastle’s impressive turnover of Chelsea last weekend.

Hugo Lloris – 8 – Made a few crucial interceptions including a top save from Deulofeu and was extremely courageous to stay on despite receiving such a terrible knock on the head. He clearly saw Friedel on the touchline, remembered the penalty shoot-out from Wednesday and thought “no way am I subjecting Spurs to that again”. His head injured Lukaku’s knee, not the other way round.

Kyle Walker – 7 – Another good performance from Walker who is improving game-by-game. A flourishing partnership with Townsend was showcased again although he didn’t create as much as he would have liked.

Michael Dawson – 7 – Bravely blocked a Jelavic strike and handled the Everton attack well, with a clean sheet being the reward.

Vlad Chiriches – 7 – Generally dealt with the threat of Lukaku accomplishedly and made a couple of crucial interceptions; I had worries that he would be found out today but he stepped up a level and showed that he is cut out for the higher echelons of the Premier League.

Jan Vertonghen – 8 – An excellent performance from the Belgian, repeatedly venturing down the left wing whilst also finding time to attend to his defensive duties; deservedly rewarded man of the match.

Sandro – 7 – Played extremely well and we looked lighter at the back when he went off. Probably should have stayed on as his removal invited pressure and he didn’t play midweek.

Paulinho – 5 – A quiet game in a crowded midfield as he didn’t have as much freedom as against weaker teams; looked a bit indecisive in front of goal but was quite solid in a defence.

Andros Townsend – 6 – Yet again, he looked dangerous without ever creating too much; shot too close to the keeper on a couple of occasions and was a bit safe in his crosses (i.e., he didn’t cross).

Lewis Holtby – 6 – Evidently energetic and pumped up but didn’t influence proceedings as much as he would have wished, having the ball too deep and unable to link up with Soldado too much.

Aaron Lennon – 5 – Quiet again as he returns from injury although there were a couple of occasions when he stretched the Everton defence.

Roberto Soldado – 6 – Didn’t receive enough of the ball and as a result looked isolated up top, although he did still get stuck in and didn’t allow life to be easy for the opposition defence.

Substitutes:

Mousa Dembele – 5 – Hardly had the ball after making way for Sandro and as a result didn’t offer too much offensively; solid defensively without ever being truly tested.

Gylfi Sigurdsson – 6 – Worked a couple of good opportunities to shoot but failed to properly work the goalkeeper.

Christian Eriksen – 6 – Also lacked possession of the football but delivered a killer free-kick from wide on the right wing which deserved to be headed into the goal.