Arsenal vs Everton predicted starting XI: Keep it going!

Arsenal have to travel away from the Emirates to face Everton in another must-win. Here is how Unai Emery will likely shape his side up.

Arsenal‘s home form has never been in question. They are in the title race on home form alone, but in away form, they are mired in mid-table obscurity. There is such a profound difference between the two forms, and while Unai Emery has made strides to amending this post-Wenger, it hasn’t yet been perfected.

Which is why this bit of travel to Goodison is so stressful. Because it’s so nice to play matches at the Emirates that I never want to leave (and the players surely don’t either).

That said, Goodison has always been friendlier than most to the traveling Gunners, going back into the Wenger days, so it’s not the worst in the world, but Emery is still going to be packing his side like he normally does for away matches, drastically varying his team selection to account for the undoubted boost that the hosts will get from being at home.

For three matches, Emery has opted for a back three, with marauding wingbacks, but those three have all been home games that were easy enough to dominate. In away matches, his tendency is to shift to a more industrious side with a focus on defending and counter-attacking.

As such, I’m thinking Emery sticks to that trend with a 4-3-3 to buck his growing home trends, with some notable absences that are sure to tick more than one fan off when the starting XI gets announced on Sunday.

It’s all in the name of controlling the midfield and trusting the attackers to be clinical enough to close out their opportunities with goals, not missed chances.

All that said, let’s get into the 4-3-3 prediction with the one man who is sure to remain unchanged for the duration of the Premier League season.

Keeper

Bernd Leno has shown a tremendous affinity for heroics in 2019, fresh off the backs of fans clamoring for him to do more, and that will be a boost going into a match where he will have to do more, because there’s just no way around it. This defense is still flimsy, no matter how you shake it up.

Speaking of which, let’s get into that defense.