James Garner axed, Dominic Calvert-Lewin call made – Everton predicted XI v Arsenal
Dwight McNeil is in line for his first start of the season when Everton host Arsenal on their return to Premier League action on Sunday [17 September].
The winger missed the opening three league games of the campaign through injury, but he returned as a second-half substitute in the 2-2 draw with Sheffield United prior to the international break.
Should adaptable wide player McNeil start against Arsenal, it would mean one of Arnaut Danjuma or James Garner missing out, with the latter having started all four matches so far.
Dyche will have other options in that area of the pitch soon as Jack Harrison has taken part in training this week, but the Leeds United loanee is not expected to be ready for his debut just yet.
The other big call for Dyche to make this weekend is up top, where new signing Beto has led the line in the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has now recovered from the facial injury sustained on the second weekend of the season.
Calvert-Lewin’s quality is well known, but Dyche will see no reason to drop Beto on the back of his performances to date, while a two-striker system is surely not feasible in this fixture.
Beto may not have netted on his Premier League bow against Sheffield United, but he completed six dribbles at Bramall Lane – no other Everton player completed more than one [WhoScored].
As former Everton player Michael Ball put it in his Liverpool Echo column [12 September], Beto is a “different animal” who can add an “element of surprise” up against Arsenal’s defence.
Assuming the returning international players, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford among them, report back to Finch Farm injury-free, then any further changes beyond McNeil coming in seem unlikely.
That could mean a back four of Nathan Patterson, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite and Ashley Young, with Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gana Gueye in holding midfield and Abdoulaye Doucoure slightly more advanced.
Youssef Chermiti could provide an attacking option from the bench, having so far been restricted to just 24 minutes in the Premier League since arriving in the summer.
In other Everton news, unnamed agents have shared a sack verdict on Dyche ahead of the visit of Arsenal.