Sean Dyche will kick off his Everton tenure in perhaps the toughest way possible – a visit from Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.
Dyche joined the Toffees late in January to replace Frank Lampard and was not given any new signings, despite the club raising £40m through Anthony Gordon’s departure to Newcastle.
He now has to prepare to face an Arsenal side who added Jorginho on transfer deadline day to bolster their push for the title. Mikel Arteta’s side are flying at the top of the table and will expect to add to their five-point advantage.
Here’s all you need to know about this one.
Everton vs Arsenal H2H Results (Last Five Games)
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Everton team news
Nathan Patterson and Andros Townsend will miss the start of the Dyche era, and the boss may also be without former Burnley man Michael Keane due to a knee issue.
Ben Godfrey and James Garner are also lacking fitness but may make it to the bench.
(4-4-2): Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Coady, Mykolenko; Iwobi, Gueye, Onana, McNeil; Gray, Calvert-Lewin
Arsenal team news
Mohamed Elneny could miss the rest of the season through injury and his replacement, Jorginho, will likely start on the bench here, unless Thomas Partey’s rib injury is more serious that initially expected.
Striker Gabriel Jesus is back training on grass but not yet ready to return from injury, while there are doubts over both Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe.
(4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Nketiah
Everton are the obvious underdogs here, but they’ll be hoping for the ‘new manager bounce’ to help them avoid what could easily be a bit of a drubbing here.
Dyche’s sides are usually defensively resolute, but these aren’t his players and he’ll be relying on familiar pair James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil to bring inject some of that old Burnley enthusiasm into Everton’s struggling squad.
Even if the Toffees can figure something out, having to tackle Arsenal is a thankless task and one which they’ll likely get nothing from.
Prediction: Everton 0-3 Arsenal
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