23  Seamus COLEMAN
  6  Phil JAGIELKA (c)
15  Sylvain DISTIN
  3  Leighton BAINES

18  Gareth BARRY

21  Leon OSMAN  (20  Ross BARKLEY 63)
16  James McCARTHY     
22  Steven PIENAAR
11  Kevin MIRALLIS       (10  Gerard DEULOFEU 63)

17  Romelu LUKAKU       (  7  Nikica JELAVIC 86)

Unused subs: 
  1  Joel ROBLES
  8  Bryan OVIEDO
26  John STONES
14  Steven NAISMITH

  2  Kyle WALKER
  6  Vlad CHIRICHES
20  Michael DAWSON (c)
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN

  8  PAULINHO     
30  SANDRO  (19  Mousa DEMBELE 61)

17  Andros TOWNSEND
14  Lewis HOLTBY (23  Christian ERIKSEN 86)
  7  Aaron LENNON  (22  Gylfi SIGURDSSON 69)

  9  Roberto SOLDADO

Unused subs: 
24  Brad FRIEDEL
  4  Younes KABOUL
18  Jermain DEFOE
11  Erik LAMELA

What looked to be a close contest on paper turned out to be a game of two halves, neither of which could separate the two sides in a 0-0 draw.

Everton kept their substitutes in from the last game, while Spurs reverted to the tried and tested XI to try and break the Toffees' good home run.  The sun shone down at the start of the game and the expectancy buzzed around the ground after the well-observed minutes' silence for those who fell in the defence of our country.

Spurs started brightly and having worked the ball in tight areas on the left wing, forced the opening save of the game with Sandro's third minute shot from 30 yards making Howard dive to his left to push the ball wide for a corner. The pressure continued, with Townsend shooting wide from 25 yards out and Soldado getting onto Lennon's left wing cross with an unchallenged header, but he put it wide of Howard's left hand post.  Spurs were closing Everton down quickly and when Paulinho was presented with the ball by Mirallis, he didn't make the most of it as he passed the ball back to a blue shirt. Vertonghen then made a good run up the left before running straight into two defenders, with Townsend shooting after good possession, but it took a flick off a defender and went over.

From a free-kick for McCarthy's tug on Vertonghen, Walker struck it hard through the wall and Howard had to punch the ball away – not taking any chances as the sun was shining in his eyes, then Townsend's shot was blocked for a corner.  Holtby worked hard to win ball off Pienaar and put Soldado through but ball caught under his feet and cross knocked out for corner. From it Holtby got the ball back after clearance and hit low shot but not enough power.

In contrast, Everton's first effort on goal came when Osman wasn't shut down and hit a 20 yard shot that flew over in the 27th minute.  After this the game settled down into a pattern of Tottenham keeping the high line and Everton failing to use the ball effectively, but there were few efforts on goal in the last quarter of an hour, with Everton's main threat coming from dead ball situations and Tottenham lacking players in the box when they broke, so Soldado had a shot from outside the box almost on half time, which flew over the bar of Howard's goal.

Lennon robbed Baines down by his own dead ball line early in the second half and he pulled it back to Holtby whose shot was blocked from corner of box. When Everton did break, with three on two, Mirallis was played in on the right of the box and Vlad Chiriches produced a fine sliding tackle to prevent his shot and win a goal kick. For his protestations, Mirallis went into the book.

In the 56th minute, Walker's run across from his right back position fed Vertonghen and the Belgian played the ball into the penalty area for Paulinho. As he tried to turn, he was blocked by Distin, who twisted his knee in the process, but was able to carry on.  Keeper Tim Howard was lucky, when, under no pressure, he kicked the ball straight at Holtby, but the ball bounced to an Everton player.

With 65 minutes gone, substitute Ross Barkley hit a rising left foot drive over the top, as Everton snapped back at Spurs with a sharper start to the second half. When there was a reverse of the penalty claim in the first half, with Vertonghen going in on Coleman and the Irishman going down, at least Friend was consistent and failed to point to the spot.  Chiriches was forced to clear a difficult ball into the six yard box and then Dawson did well challenging Lukaku as McCarthy's low cross came in from their right wing. Sigurdsson had Tottenham's first effort of the second half after he had come off the bench, but Howard punched it clear with 75 minutes gone. 

For the second game running, Spurs had a serious injury concern, with Lloris laid out by Lukaku, who followed through and kneed Hugo in the head.  The French keeper had a Led Zeppelin moment (dazed and confused), but like Townsend against Hull, he fought to stay on, despite medical advice and the Everton crowd's reaction did them little credit, as they booed him and abused AVB on the touchline.

Lloris had to do well, as Deulofeu drifted past three players to break into the box and his cross was blocked by Hugo's dive, coming out to the left of his goal. Dawson cleared after Barkley had knocked him off the ball, just as the fourth official showed nine minutes of added time was still to be played. He later came to punch a corner through a bunch of players, showing how much keeping a clean sheet means to him.

When Distin fouled Soldado out near the right wing corner flag, Eriksen had the chance to fire in a free-kick and it was so pacy that it beat Jan at the far post. In the next attack Vertonghen got a cross in from the left and when it was cleared, three Spurs players were under it and Eriksen's shot was charged down. A minute later, from a similar position to the left corner of the box, Sigurdsson pulled a shot across goal and wide, then Townsend cut in from the right to hit a shot that Howard grabbed on the edge of the six yard box.  Spurs were still on the attack when the final whistle blew.

For a lot of the game Everton were poor. Passes went astray and their movement was poor, making penetration difficult. But, even when they came forward with more purpose in the second half, there were few worrying moments for Tottenham, with only a couple of crosses giving concern. 

As for Spurs, the solidity that has ensured yet another away clean sheet makes it hard to get shots on goal, with Soldado expected to battle away on his own against three defenders for most of the time. Spurs looked good going forward with the ball, especially Vertonghen, as Townsend had a tough time up against Baines and the defence looked comfortable against what looked, on paper, a scary forward and midfield line-up.

While Spurs probably just about edged the game, each side should have had a penalty and a point might have been a suitable outcome before the match kicked off, bearing in mind Everton's very good home record.  But Spurs go back into fourth, just behind Liverpool and just ahead of Manchester City. It means nothing at the start of November, but if the situation is the same at the end of the final game, then it might prove to be a very good point.

Keith Mendament