James Tarkowski and Michael Keane give Liverpool duo run for their money with incredible stats
Any recent success Everton have enjoyed has been built on a rock-solid defence.
So far this season, Everton have been without Jarrad Branthwaite, with the 23-year-old suffering from a hamstring injury sustained in training in August.
David Moyes has been forced to field Michael Keane, who could’ve been sold in the summer, alongside the ever-present James Tarkowski in the heart of his defence.
The experienced pair have started the season in fine form, defending Jordan Pickford’s goal, and Keane scored in Everton’s 1-1 draw with West Ham at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.
Their excellent start has ranked them as one of the Premier League’s best centre-back partnerships.
Only Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate can compete with Everton’s centre-backs
Keane and Tarkowski both rank in the top five central defenders for the most total clearances in the league so far this season.
As a duo, Everton‘s English pair have made 89 clearances, the joint most in the league with Merseyside rivals Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate matching the figure.
However, the Blues are the only team to have two players rank in the top five for the metric.
Keane has averaged 7.5 clearances per match to pair with his impressive 2.2 tackles and interceptions per match and two league clean sheets, stats gathered by Sofascore.
While Keane’s impressive form has come largely as a shock to fans, the same cannot be said for his partner.
Tarkowski has been immense yet again and has become one of the best defenders in the entire Premier League since his free transfer from Burnley.
- Tarkowski ranks in the top 15 defenders for aerial duels success rate – 63.89%
- He ranks joint top with Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes with nine shots blocked.
- Has a Sofascore rating of 7.12, which puts him in the top 20 for defenders who have made more than three appearances.
Last year, the only defender to have a higher average Sofascore rating than Tarkowski’s 7.3 was Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol, proving that he has consistently been one of the league’s best.
Keane and Tarkowski will have the chance to be the outright leaders of the clearance table in their game against Crystal Palace at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday.
Everton will need their defence to be on top form against Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace will travel to Merseyside, third in the table and looking to extend their 18-game unbeaten streak.
However, history shows trips to the Toffees haven’t yielded great fortune for the Eagles.
Everton are unbeaten at home this season and unbeaten at home against Palace in their last 11 meetings.
This is a completely different team that Moyes is facing, and also a brand new stadium that Palace are visiting.
Ismaila Sarr and Jean Philippe Mateta are poised to cause trouble for Keane and Tarkowski, who will have to be at their best to keep the forwards quiet.
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