Summary One Everton star has already stifled Bukayo Saka in the past and should be unleashed against Arsenal. He could help patch up one big vulnerability of the Toffees this term. The player starred during the current international break for his country.
Everton manager Sean Dyche will have used the first international pause of the season as a chance to reset and forge ahead with his side's Premier League efforts after a disappointing start.
Suffering three successive defeats before an entertaining 2-2 draw against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane handed the Toffees their first goals and point of the campaign, a daunting clash against title-chasing Arsenal now awaits.
How much did Everton spend this summer?
After falling by the wayside last season and struggling against the threat of relegation, Everton sacked Frank Lampard in January and replaced him with former Burnley boss Dyche, who successfully manufactured an escape from danger and preserved top-flight status on a nail-biting final day, defeating Bournemouth 1-0.
Ashley Young
Free
Arnaut Danjuma
Loan
Youssef Chermiti
£15m
Jack Harrison
Loan
Beto
£26m
Fees sourced via Sky Sports.
While a summer of additions has been concluded, there has been little progress on the pitch thus far – though centre-forward Beto has been described as "fantastic" by The Athletic's Patrick Boyland for his start to life in England, having already found the net once in his two outings.
Dyche will hope to use the draw against Sheffield United as a launchpad, and while Arsenal are one of the most formidable outfits in Europe right now, the Toffees will be emboldened by their 1-0 victory over Mikel Arteta's side in the corresponding fixture last year.
In fact, Everton have won four of the past six matches against the Gunners and are unbeaten in five clashes at Goodison Park, and this could now be the opportune moment for the Blues to kickstart their season. That said, they will need to be better defensively.
Ashley Young, aged 38, has started all four of Everton's Premier League matches this season after joining in the summer, but as Boyland noted, the defence has been "very vulnerable".
Against Arsenal, perhaps it's time for Vitaliy Mykolenko to earn his first league start of the season, especially after his display against England last week, producing a solid performance to help negate the threat of Bukayo Saka.
How good is Vitaliy Mykolenko?
Indeed, analyst Liam Tharme remarked that the prodigious winger got "walloped" by the Ukrainian last Saturday, and while he produced an unforgiving defensive display, it will have caught Dyche's attention ahead of the forthcoming club clash.
Mykolenko, who was once hailed as "outstanding" by Lampard, made five clearances, two tackles and an interception, as per Sofascore, also winning four of his six duels on the day, and while Saka was still lively and elegant, he failed to produce his most effective display for the Three Lions despite hitting the woodwork. After all, this was England's Player of the Year struggling to get into the game.
Journalist Paul Brown doesn't believe that Dyche "trusts" the 24-year-old Everton defender, and while this may be the case, his physicality and robustness might be crucial in nullifying the abundant qualities of Saka, who has already posted two goals and assists apiece for Arsenal this term.
While the £58k-per-week left-back might have some questionable defensive tendencies, there's no question of his tenacity and application, ranking among the top 2% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for clearances, the top 4% for blocks and the top 10% for interceptions per 90, as per FBref.
While Dyche clearly doesn't hold Mykolenko in the highest regard, he could be an important component against Arsenal and their star man Saka and be the “hero” once again, as has been said by Joe Thomas.
It might even prove to be a masterstroke to deploy the 5 foot 11 defender to the starting fold on Sunday to stifle Saka's threat and set Everton on their way.