Joe Thomas: The international break came at a frustrating time for Everton. Five points from three games represented positive momentum, meanwhile Spurs were in meltdown. Two weeks later there are still reasons to be positive, including that Sean Dyche has had another fortnight to work with his squad, but it is still chilling to see the Blues back in the bottom three, while tonight’s visitors have also moved to try and get their house back in order.
Although Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s absence looks set to continue, Dyche has more options than at any point since he joined Everton. Ellis Simms’ late goal at Chelsea puts him in contention to start, James Garner and Nathan Patterson earned minutes on international duty - as did Vitalii Mykolenko, whose pre-break illness led to Ben Godfrey getting a run in the team. I don’t see a need to make changes to a successful formula though.
Simms rightly grabbed the headlines at Chelsea but Demarai Gray has put in a series of useful performances up top, Coleman and Godfrey have done well and while Garner has a strong case for inclusion, I’m not sure who he comes in for - it would have been Idrissa Gueye a few weeks ago, but his form has improved. I know Dyche is less extensive with his use of substitutes anyway, but it is good to go into a game in the knowledge he has genuine options if he does want to freshen things up on the hour mark.
