James Tarkowski Burnley reveal will fill David Moyes with Everton confidence
There will be a couple of reunions when Everton take on Burnley in the Premier League on Tuesday night.
Everton duo Dwight McNeil and James Tarkowski will both be going up against their former Burnley side at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Tuesday, in what is a big game for both teams.
David Moyes‘ Toffees currently sit eighth in the Premier League, but now find themselves eight points removed from Liverpool and the European football race in fifth.
As for the Clarets, they occupy 19th place in the division, and are eight points adrift of safety, and are in desperate need of some wins ASAP.
They’ve come agonisingly close in their last two league games too, drawing 1-1 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge before losing 4-3 to Brentford at Turf Moor last time out.
James Tarkowski has excellent record against Burnley
Tarkowski is an experienced campaigner, and the 33-year-old centre-back is enjoying another very solid season on Merseyside.
He arrived from Burnley in the summer of 2022, having made well over 200 career appearances for the Clarets, helping them win promotion to the Premier League and being part of some of their best days in the top flight.
As such, he remains a popular figure with the Turf Moor faithful, as he was one of their inevitable transfer casualties suffered upon their relegation from the Premier League in 2021-22.
When facing off against former employers, however, some players rise to the occasion, desperate to get one up on their old side, whilst others can find the added pressure and intrigue too much to handle and flop.
Tarkowski is certainly in the former of those camps, having only tasted defeat against Burnley once in his five career games against them, winning three and drawing one respectively.
In the Premier League, the veteran defender has never lost to the Clarets, winning twice and drawing once, whilst his other win came in the League Cup.
His only defeat against his former team came way back in the 2015-16 season, when his then-Brentford side lost 1-0.
Tarkowski set for fascinating battle with Zian Flemming
When these two sides met in the reverse fixture back on 27 December last year, Tarkowski commanded the Everton defence against a three-man Burnley attack consisting of Marcus Edwards, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Armando Broja.
However, with Edwards and Broja suffering from injury problems, Burnley boss Scott Parker has been deploying Zian Flemming in a lone centre-forward role in a 3-4-2-1 formation in recent games.
Flemming has been relishing it too, with two goals in as many Premier League games, setting him up for a key positional battle against Tarkowski on Tuesday night.
Tarkowski will have his work cut out for him, as the Dutchman is a big, physical striker who won’t be afraid to tussle with the Everton star.
But, that could also suit the Toffees, however, as Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite are both more than capable of winning their individual battles if it becomes a bit of a wrestling match.
For even more Everton news and opinions, head over to Football Insider.