Had any Everton fans tuned in to Tottenham Hotspur's opening Premier League draw with Leicester City, where the Lilywhites' ruthlessness eluded them they could have been forgiven for feeling slightly optimistic about their side's prospects in North London.

However, Ange Postecoglou's men inevitably rediscovered their shooting boots against the depleted Toffees backline, who conceded twice to Son Heung-min and once to Cristian Romero and Yves Bissouma in a four-goal slaughter, one which followed a three-goal trouncing at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Already propping up the Premier League table in 20th place on account of their abysmal defensive record, Everton enjoyed a much-needed pick-me-up in midweek, where Dwight McNeil, Iliman Ndiaye and Beto saw off the threat of Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Cup.

Rewarded for their endeavours with an all-Premier League clash against Southampton in round three, Everton have one final chance in 2024 to banish a monthly hoodoo under Dyche, who has lost all five of his top-flight games in charge of the Toffees in August.

What is more, Everton have not even managed a single Premier League goal in all of those battles, although it has been 11 months since they last lost back-to-back home games in the top flight, suffering four straight defeats at Goodison at the start of last term.

Down south last weekend, the VAR room refused to offer Bournemouth a helping hand in their closely-fought contest with Newcastle United, ruling out a last-gasp Dango Ouattara goal for handball as the Cherries winger rose highest to meet a last-minute corner.

Following Marcus Tavernier's opener and an Anthony Gordon response, Ouattara sent the Vitality Stadium into short-lived pandemonium, only for the officials in Stockley Park to rule that the 22-year-old's 'winner' just crossed the boundary from shoulder to arm.

There was no reprieve for Andoni Iraola and his troops in midweek either, as a late Jarrod Bowen strike sent West Ham United into the third round of the EFL Cup at the expense of the Cherries, who therefore remain without a competitive win in 2024-25.

Including their horrendous conclusion to the 2023-24 season, Bournemouth's overall winless streak in the Premier League now stands at five matches, and in addition to Dyche's August hex, Iraola has won just two of his 14 games in the current month with the Cherries, Mirandes and Rayo Vallecano.

Bournemouth have also been beaten in both of their last two trips to Goodison Park - failing to score against Saturday's hosts on both occasions - but Iraola's men dramatically prevailed 2-1 at the Vitality in March, where Seamus Coleman was Everton's villain with a last-gasp own goal.