Arsenal Predicted Lineup vs Everton: Persist With Back Three?

Forwards

Nicolas Pepe (RW) – Drop Nicolas Pepe from this team and you might as well take a sledgehammer to his confidence and finish him off. It would ruin him to be replaced for Willian, having run his socks off against Southampton.

The Ivorian didn’t have an especially strong game and does needs to apply himself intelligently in build-up play, but he was more of a threat than Willian has been. While you can never be certain, it looks as if Arteta feels the same way.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (ST) – Eddie Nketiah had a relatively good evening on Wednesday. Some distance off an assured performance, his movement in the box was clever in attacking phases, with chemistry between the rest of the forwards still lacking.

His setup for the goal was also neat, yet Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang  could lineup down the middle, buoyed by the confidence his goal would have given him.

Bukayo Saka (LW) – Saka is needed in midfield. Well, he’s just needed in general. However, Maitland-Niles is the better defender of the two and the constant changing between him, Saka and Kieran Tierney down that left flank will work in disrupting any patterns the Toffees try to build down that flank.

Interchangeability in that will work against Everton’s back three, as Maitland-Niles can cover for Tierney and vice versa, allowing Saka to pick up the half-spaces and make diagonal runs infield.