Tottenham given vital Everton verdict and told why they must win 'cup final'

Tottenham Hotspur host Everton in the Premier League after failing to win any of their first three matches this season and without scoring in any of their games

Paul Merson believes Tottenham Hotspur must beat Everton in their 'cup final' this weekend because their season is already on the line.

Spurs have just a single point from their first three matches after failing to score in any of their games. Their opponents, in comparison, are unbeaten, albeit after drawing their last two fixtures, the latter thanks to a 96th-minute winner from transfer-deadline-day signing Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

This month's other matches before the international break are away to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, then at home against Aston Villa. That is partly why Merson believes Everton is already a must-win one.

In his Sky Sports column, the Premier League player-turned-pundit said: "Spurs have to beat Everton this weekend. It's a cup final for them - I'd go as far as to say this is their season on the line.

"If they lose to Everton, then you start thinking: this is going to be another grind of a season. Here we go again. You would start really, really worrying as a Tottenham fan.

"But if they go and beat Everton, you start going two games without a defeat, they'll be on four points. Then all of a sudden, you can build from there.

"It's not as big as the Spurs vs Everton game on the final day of last season. If they lost that game, they were going to Lincoln.

"But, at the moment, I just don't see this team putting five or six wins on the trot together. So this is a big football match.

"The start Spurs have had is Brentford away, Newcastle at home and Nottingham Forest away. If they lose to Everton and have one point from four games, you start to worry. If they beat Everton, then they've got every chance of beating Aston Villa at home next week.

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"If they don't beat Everton, they're not beating Villa. That's how it works. It's a snowball effect. When you win football matches, you expect to win the one after. But if you don't, the confidence goes."

Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi was asked in his press conference whether the team need to win tomorrow. He replied: "We need to win, we need to score, we need to win against Liverpool on Tuesday, against Aston Villa next week. We need to win, but it's not enough to say we need to win the game."

Spurs vs Everton is live on Sky Sports across the United Kingdom to subscribers.