In the 14th match week of the 2020/21 Premier League, Everton hosted Arsenal at Goodison Park in what was the last league game before the Christmas round of fixtures. Everton came into this match on the back of impressive wins against both Chelsea and Leicester City. A win here would put them five points behind Liverpool and back in the hunt for a top 4 spot.
Arsenal, on the other hand, are on the back of a six-game winless run with their last victory coming against Manchester United in early November. Mikel Arteta’s men would have liked to put their misery to end and register an important win to climb up the table.
This tactical analysis focuses on the tactics deployed by both managers. Let’s begin the analysis.
Line-ups
Everton lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that shifted into a 4-3-3 when they had possession of the ball. Ancelotti made just one change to the line-up that beat Leicester 2-0 in the midweek with Tom Davies coming in for Allan.
Mikel Arteta changed his system slightly and went with the same structure that won Arsenal the FA Cup in August. Aubameyang’s calf injury meant he missed out of the squad in the last minute and Gabriel Martinelli made his first appearance in the bench after 10 months. David Luiz made his way into the playing 11 in place of the suspended centre-back Gabriel.
Everton with Possession
In the absence of James Rodriguez due to injury, Carlo Ancelotti changed his tactics recently with the use of a 4-1-4-1 / 4-3-3 formation where one of his double pivots was customised into a number 8 and occupied the right half-space, and it would be mostly Doucoure. Sigurdson, from his natural CAM role, would drift into the left half-space. This change in the system was after a barren run of form where they lost two of their major creative outlets, Rodriguez and Lucas Digne. Since he no longer had the luxury of crosses from his full-backs (Coleman from the right side), he has been forced to use two make-shift full-backs (predominantly CBs) in that place.
![Lazio Vs Napoli [0–2] – Serie A 2025/2026: Maurizio Sarri Zonal Marking Weaknesses And Unsuccessful Attacking Choices – Tactical Analysis](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Lazio-Vs-Napoli-tactical-analysis--350x250.png "Lazio Vs Napoli [0–2] – Serie A 2025/2026: How Antonio Conte Tactics Exploited Structural Flaws – Tactical Analysis 5")
