The first ever 0-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium gives Jamie Redknapp his Curb moment | OneFootball

“If we’re talking in two hours and they still haven’t scored, I’ll be absolutely amazed,” stated Jamie Redknapp in his pre-match punditry ahead of Tottenham vs Everton.

He was practically begging for a Curb Your Enthusiasm theme with that one.

It sounded a particularly bold claim, when, only a couple of minutes later Sky Sports flashed up a graphic showing that no player in Tottenham’s starting XI – including their £350million-plus worth of summer signings – scored more than four league goals last season.

And the only player with four was centre-back Micky van de Ven. The only player in the Spurs squad who scored more last season was Richarlison, reportedly considering legal action, and watching on from the stands after being omitted from Roberto De Zerbi’s Premier League squad.

Redknapp’s optimism, he reasoned, was that this was finally something close to De Zerbi’s first-choice XI, summer additions bedded in and starting – and that there’s simply too much attacking quality for the drought to continue.

After all, Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne are probably the two standout Premier League players of the last decade. Look at Cole Palmer now. All of them were once spare parts at big six clubs. All of them shone when given faith and opportunities. Maybe that’ll be Savio and Omar Marmoush…

Or maybe not. But you sensed Redknapp might’ve actually been on to something when the hosts made a bright start, the crowd sounding up for it, with Savio looking particularly lively.

That lasted all of 10 minutes, and it failed to result in any major chances of note. Everton grew into the game, had a spell on top, and reached the break without facing a shot on target. Classic David Moyes.

Jordan Pickford’s first save, from a tame long-range Mateus Fernandes effort in the 46th minute, was met with ironic cheers from the home fans. Vibe check: Not great.

After an erratic start to the season from De Zerbi – Archie Gray their youngest-ever captain one week, an unused sub the next – this line-up at least made sense on paper. A solid defence, a combative midfield and an attack that theoretically had the tools to hurt the opposition.

But all three of Rodrigo Bentancur, Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes recalled Jose Mourinho’s infamous ‘trivote’ of Pepe, Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira at Real Madrid. A lot of graft, very little guile. It was no wonder they struggled to create, and as the second half wore on, you were just waiting for De Zerbi to fix it.

James Maddison looked the most obvious solution, but he had to wait as the Tottenham manager opted for Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Bergvall in place of Bentancur and Fernandes just past the hour mark. Mathys Tel replaced an isolated, ineffective Dominic Solanke. Something different, at least.

Yet it was Everton that looked the likelier to score. It was Jack Grealish who looked the most impactful substitute. Maddison was eventually introduced in the 77th minute, but while De Zerbi’s side made inroads in terms of territory, Pickford’s goal remained untroubled.

It was only in the dying minutes, when Maddison cut out an errant goal kick and Bergvall struck sweetly from range, that they ever looked close.

Somehow, this was the first-ever Premier League goalless draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. On this evidence – whereby Spurs were organised and competent while completely anaemic in the final third – there’ll be a whole lot more in the weeks and months to come.

If newly-promoted Coventry City score against Brighton tomorrow, Spurs will be the only remaining club in the top five tiers of English football yet to score a league goal this season.

And if Hamburg, who have only played twice, find the net against RB Leipzig, the same will be true across Europe’s five major leagues.

That’s 192 clubs in total. You don’t want to be the odd one out there.