After their short break from Premier League football, Everton return to action today as they host league leaders Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta brings his Gunners side to Goodison Park hoping to continue their push for the title, whilst Sean Dyche takes charge of his first game for the relegation-threatened club.

The former Burnley boss will recognise the mammoth task which sits in front of him but he could remain unfazed in the face of such quality, having taken some big scalps during his time in charge of the Clarets.

Typically boasting a strict 4-4-2 philosophy, it is easy to imagine what formation Dyche will employ. The question is what personnel will occupy the various roles, as this squad have let down plenty of managers before him.

With just under a week having passed since he took the job, he will hope to have imparted enough of his wisdom to them to give Everton a fighting chance.

With that in mind, here’s the starting XI that Football FanCast is predicting for the Toffees today:

Dyche is expected to make just one change from the side which whimpered to defeat against West Ham United last time out in a 3-4-1-2 setup, but will employ the aforementioned formation.

Jordan Pickford remains at the club despite speculation linking him with an exit throughout January, and he is literally the first name on the team sheet at the moment. He will surely play a huge role if the Merseyside outfit are to escape the drop this year. 

Reverting to a back four, Seamus Coleman and Vitaliy Mykolenko will occupy the full-back spots whilst Conor Coady retains his place in the team. He will partner former Dyche favourite James Tarkowski, which will see Yerry Mina dropped.

With Coady and Tarkowski almost ever-present, it seems likely that the new Everton boss will persist with those two as his centre-back partnership. In turn, the Colombian may be the fall guy, despite being hailed as a "monster" in the past by Michael Ball.

The flat-four in midfield to protect the unit behind them will also see another of Dyche's former players employed, with Dwight McNeil expected to feature more heavily now that Anthony Gordon has been sold.

Once dubbed a “promising talent” by Stephen Warnock, a run in the team could see the 22-year-old once again find the form which has seen him lauded in the past during this time at Burnley and convinced Frank Lampard to sign him for £20m last summer.

Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye will hold down the midfield engine room, with Alex Iwobi moving into a wide role.

That leaves a strike partnership of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Demarai Gray, with the latter scoring from a centre-forward role against Manchester City a few weeks ago. He will likely be asked to feed off the potential chaos brought about by his compatriot's physical presence.