One of the stand-out fixtures in the Premier League this weekend comes at Goodison Park when Everton play hosts to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

The Toffees are looking to improve upon last season’s seventh-place finish and manager Ronald Koeman was certainly busy during the summer transfer window, bringing in the likes of Wayne Rooney and Gylfi Sigurdsson after Romelu Lukaku left to join Manchester United.

The Merseyside outfit have taken four points from their opening three top flight matches this season, following up a 1-0 win against Stoke at Goodison with a draw at Manchester City and a 2-0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last time out.

Tottenham have also won one, drawn one and lost one, but they will be a tough nut to crack as they once again look to compete for the Premier League title after finishing second last term.

The Toffees don’t have the best record against their weekend opponents either, having failed to beat them in the league since December 2012.

Here are three tactical ploys Koeman must implement to Everton’s first win in 10 matches against Spurs…

Target the gaps in Tottenham's defence

Mauricio Pochettino has opted to use the 4-2-3-1 formation in the Premier League so far this season, despite ending the previous campaign with the 3-4-2-1 system.

In the last two matches especially, it appears as though the Tottenham players may still be getting used to the change, and it is certainly something Ronald Koeman should be targeting this weekend.

Marcos Alonso’s winning goal for Chelsea at Wembley last month came when the ball was played in-between Kieran Trippier and the Spurs centre-backs and the Spaniard finished low under Hugo Lloris.

A similar story happened against Burnley when Robbie Brady’s through-ball between Trippier – who could miss the trip to Goodison Park with an ankle problem – and the defence was capitalised upon by Chris Wood, and it certainly seems to be a weakness for the visitors right now.

Utilise his wide players

Everton boss Ronald Koeman has favoured the 3-4-2-1 so far this season and it remains to be seen whether the Dutchman will stick with it even if Tottenham line up with their current 4-2-3-1 system.

However, if Koeman has been analysing Spurs’ matches against Chelsea and Burnley – in which they took just the solitary point – he will know that he would be better off with the former in order to utilise his wide players.

Marcos Alonso and Robbie Brady – both wide players – have proven to be pivotal against Mauricio Pochettino’s men in recent weeks and the Toffees should be looking to utilise the likes of Leighton Baines and Mason Holgate in the same way on Saturday.

Targeting the full-backs instead of the strong partnership of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen at the heart of the defence seems like the right thing to do, especially as Kieran Trippier and new boy Serge Aurier could both miss the trip to Goodison Park.

Keep Harry Kane quiet

Tottenham had a total of 46 efforts at goal against Chelsea and Burnley, but they scored just twice with one of those being an own goal from the Blues’ Michy Batshuayi.

Spurs have certainly lacked that clinical edge in their previous two Premier League fixtures and much of that could be down to Harry Kane’s August hoodoo – the England international failed to score during the month for the fourth successive season.

Ronald Koeman will know that if his side can keep the 24-year-old quiet at Goodison Park on Saturday, there is every chance that the visitors could fail to get on the score-sheet - so they may only need one goal themselves to pick up their first win in 10 attempts against the north London outfit.

Do you agree, Everton fans? Let us know below.