Keane dropped and Calvert-Lewin returns in two changes – Everton predicted XI v Arsenal
Everton need a win against Arsenal on Friday evening to arrest an alarming slump in form, and Carlo Ancelotti must make a big change in defence to aid this.
The Blues are on a horrendous run of form, winless in their last six games, and such form has dealt a monumental hit to their European aspirations.
The positive is that they have at least one game on hand on all sides above them except Leicester City but time is ticking for them to restore some confidence which has been floundering in recent weeks.
The trip to North London takes on even greater significance because the Gunners can overtake us with a win and that would see us slide down to ninth, while a Leeds United victory over Manchester United on Sunday would push us to tenth.
Considering we thought we were mounting a top-four finish not too long ago that would be an absolutely disastrous conclusion to this campaign that started so well.
The players need to pull themselves together and it’s on Ancelotti to make some big calls after last week’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park.
There were some simply abominable performances and errors in that game, with Michael Keane and Mason Holgate particularly culpable for Harry Kane’s two goals.
At Goodison News we think at least one of them has to pay for it, and we’re calling on Ancelotti to drop Keane from the starting XI for the trip to the Emirates Stadium.
This would be a big call given Keane has only missed one Premier League game this season but we think he needs a spell, or at least a game, on the sidelines to make him up his game.
In an ideal world we would drop him and Holgate but with Yerry Mina only just back fit after missing six of the last nine games, the 24-year-old gets a reprieve next to Ben Godfrey.
Arsenal are a side who rely on movement and clever passes, and they have players like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe who can drift past players at ease.
That’s why we could use Holgate’s extra mobility over the one-paced Keane, and that gives him the edge here.
Furthermore, with key Arsenal duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette ruled out of Friday’s clash, the Blues defence should be looking to push higher up and assert more dominance, and Holgate’s pace would allow us to do that.
Taking out Keane and slotting Seamus Coleman into right-back would allow us to go with a back four with Godfrey and Holgate next to each other and Lucas Digne on the left.
Ancelotti delivered some big team news in his pre-match conference on Thursday afternoon, as replayed by The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland on his personal Twitter profile.
He says everyone apart from Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jean-Phillipe Gbamin are back, which means Mina, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph return to the squad.
Alex Iwobi would be the other casualty after lining up in a right wing-back role last week and he should be replaced by Calvert-Lewin.
That means we predict two changes to the side from last week’s draw.
That would enable Richarlison to move back to his more familiar left-wing role with James Rodriguez on the other side.
It’s slim pickings in midfield with Doucoure and Gbamin longer-term absentees so Allan, Tom Davies and Gylfi Sigurdsson should keep their places, though Gomes will be knocking on the door to replace Davies.
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