The one reason Kai Havertz has to start for Arsenal against Everton revealed
Everton away has been somewhat of a bogey Premier League fixture for Arsenal in recent years. The Gunners have failed to secure all three points at Goodison Park since a thrilling 5-2 victory back in 2017.
Last season, Mikel Arteta's men lost 1-0 on Merseyside thanks to a James Tarkowski header from a corner. Netting from set-pieces is a common theme when looking at goals scored by Sean Dyche's teams, with his Burnley side beating the north Londoners by the same scoreline back in December 2020 due to a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang own goal from a corner.
«Of course, I planned it all,» Dyche joked when asked about the set-piece goal following the Toffees' defeat of Arsenal last term. «We believe in our set-piece set-up, it's another valuable weapon for the team to use.
It was a great delivery and a great header and I thought we were causing problems with that today.» It is no secret that Dyche and Co. will be focusing on dead ball situations again ahead of the Gunners' visit to Goodison on Sunday afternoon.
But Arteta can't be naive, he must combat Everton's main strength when deciding his starting line-up. There has been a clamour among supporters for Fabio Vieira to replace Kai Havertz for the trip up north but the German international's aerial ability makes this exactly the kind of game he will be needed in.
The 24-year-old boasted a 57.2% success rate in aerial duels last season, as per fbref, ranking higher than the likes of Tomas Soucek, Harry Maguire and Ivan Toney in this respect. Comparatively, Vieira won just 37.5% of his aerial battles last term, meaning he would likely be a prime target for Everton at set-plays.
It seems like Arteta recognised the importance of physicality too, as evidenced by the fact he also
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