Everton continued their horrendous start to the season with a 4-0 drubbing at Tottenham as Sean Dyche’s injury problems were compounded by mistakes at the back and almost non-existent threat up front.

With Ashley Young suspended and all three of Seamus Coleman, Nathan Patterson and James Garner ruled out, 19-year Roman Dixon was pitched into his senior debut and emerged as one of the few positives on another chastening afternoon for the Blues.

They couldn’t deal with Spurs’ early energy, fell behind before a quarter of an hour had elapsed and were effectively dead and buried by half-time at 2-0 down following a howler from Jordan Pickford in a game that threatened at times to be an echo of April's 6-0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrøm, withheld from the starting XI again by the manager, came off the bench in the second half to offer some brief hope before the hosts pressed home their clear superiority in the closing stages to double their lead.

Though rated as doubtful before the game having not trained in the week because of a minor hamstring complaint, James Tarkowski started alongside Michael Keane with Jake O’Brien once again an unused substitute while Dixon deputised for Young at right-back.

Tim Iroegbunam partnered Idrissa Gueye in central midfield but the pair could not win the battle in that part of the pitch with Tottenham a yard quicker in thought and deed in all areas while Dominic Calvert-Lewin toiled fruitlessly up front with precious little service.

Spurs could have been 2-0 up inside 10 minutes but Pickford parried a shot from Christian Romero in the third minute and was there again to push away a deflected effort from Son Hueng-Min in the sixth.

What resistance Everton had put up broke not long afterwards, however, as Dejan Kulusevski twisted and turned Vitalii Mykolenko in knots inside the box before laying the ball off to the unmarked Yves Bissouma who thundered it in off the underside of the crossbar from 18 yards out.

The visitors, playing not in blue but in this season’s black away kit, could have levelled just three minutes later but, having temporarily switched flanks with Dwight McNeil, Jack Harrison’s composure deserted him. The winger arrived at the back post to meet McNeil’s deep cross from the right but sliced a weak volley wide.

Eight minutes later, it was 2-0. An Everton throw-in near the halfway line went backwards rather than forwards, with Tarkowski passing back to Pickford who unwisely took a touch to open up the angle for a left-footed clearance but was easily caught by Son who robbed him of the ball and slotted into the empty net.

The Blues had a couple of half-openings before the interval, first when McNeil tried to pick out Calvert-Lewin in the centre with an early cross but the striker couldn’t get sufficient purchase on his header and then when McNeil’s shot from the angle was blocked behind and Abdoulaye Doucouré tried to bundle the ball home from a corner but James Maddison cleared it from out of his own goalmouth.

Spurs, who had gone close in first-half stoppage time when Pedro Porro curled a left-foot shot narrowly over the angle of crossbar and post, almost gifted Everton a way back into the contest 12 minutes into the second period after Ndiaye and Lindstrøm had been introduced.

McNeil intercepted a pass deep in the hosts’ half, slalomed his way into the area and knocked it into the path of Lindstrøm but the Dane’s crisp shot was pushed away by Vicario.

Despite the increased threat from Dyche’s side, Tottenham remained the stronger of the two teams and after Maddison had drilled a direct free-kick wide of goal, they increased their lead with 20 minutes left. Maddison whipped in a corner and with Pickford rooted to his line, Romero rose between Keane and Tarkowski to power a header in off the bar.

Dyche then threw Beto on for Calvert-Lewin but it was 4-0 shortly afterwards. Micky van der Ven seized on McNeil’s attempt to thread the needle on the edge of Tottenham’s area and surged straight down the middle of the pitch before teeing up Son. The South Korean was clinical, drawing Pickford towards him and then drilling the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs.

Another hugely promising youngster in the form of 17-year-old Harrison Armstrong came on for his first-team debut and created an awkward moment for Romero in front of his goal with a strong cross from the right but there would be no consolation goal on the day for Everton who have lost their first two games of the season by an aggregate of 7-0.

Dyche spoke again afterwards of his players needing to eliminate mistakes that are gifting teams crucial goals and bemoaned the lack of killer instinct in forward areas but his team looks woefully short on confidence and ideas, all the while grappling with injuries to key players and a shortage of strength in central midfield.

The League Cup tie against Doncaster on Tuesday provides an opportunity to generate some optimism while also giving the likes of Lindstrøm, Ndiaye and O’Brien a chance to impress but the home clash with Bournemouth next weekend has taken on additional importance in terms of both performance and the result with Everton bottom of the early Premier League table.