Rice and Eze Start as Arsenal Begin Their Title Defence Against Everton

Arsenal begin their Premier League title defence at the Emirates Stadium tonight, and the confirmed team sheets put Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze straight into the XI. Everton arrive with a point to prove after what their own preview described as a stuttering start, and David Moyes has named a side built to make the champions work for every yard.

Rice starts in the double pivot, and his job is the one that makes Arsenal's 4-2-3-1 function: win the ball back quickly, play forward before Everton's shape resets, and screen the space in front of the back four. Ben White is confirmed at right-back, and his positioning will shape how quickly Arsenal turn possession into entries into the final third. David Raya starts in goal behind that structure.

Eberechi Eze is the most direct route to breaking Everton's midfield block. He receives between the lines, and against a 4-2-3-1 the space between Everton's pivot and centre-backs is exactly where the game can be won. If Everton's holding pair step up to meet him, the striker runs into the vacated space. If they sit off, Eze turns and Arsenal's wide players attack the box.

Brennan Johnson is also confirmed, and his inclusion gives Arsenal a runner in behind rather than a pure possession option. Against a back four that will hold a relatively high line when Everton press, Johnson's timing of runs matters as much as his finishing. Rice's job is to make those runs count.

Everton have not come to park the bus. Their 4-2-3-1 mirrors Arsenal's, and matching the hosts man-for-man in midfield denies Arsenal a free man in the build-up. It forces the game wide, where Everton's back four can defend crosses rather than through-balls.

The risk is that Everton's attacking line of three has to cover a lot of ground when Arsenal switch play. The reward is that the visitors can press the double pivot without leaving the back four exposed. Everton's best moments will come when their attacking midfielder receives on the half-turn after their pivot wins a second ball. Arsenal's double pivot has to decide whether to follow him or hold position, and that decision repeats every time Everton break the first line.

Both managers have chosen continuity over surprise. There is no experimental back three, no extra midfielder packed in to kill the game, and no strikerless shape to disrupt the opponent's marking. The confirmed XIs say both sides believe their standard structure is good enough to win the match on its own terms.

That makes the first 20 minutes a test of who can impose their version of the same shape. Arsenal will want the ball and will use the 4-2-3-1 to pin Everton's midfield pair deep. Everton will want to press the double pivot, force the ball wide, and attack the space Arsenal leave when their full-backs advance. The identical formations do not cancel each other out; they concentrate the match into the same few zones.

Kick-off at the Emirates is next, and the team sheets have already told us where to look. The double pivots, the space between the lines, and the runners in behind will decide whether the symmetry holds or breaks.