Sean Dyche sends message to Arsenal ahead of his first match as Everton manager

On Saturday, Sean Dyche will lead Everton against Arsenal at Goodison Park. He claims that given his experience with Burnley, the Gunners won’t be underestimating him.

Last month, Dyche took over as manager of the Toffees in lieu of Frank Lampard, and this Saturday, he will start his mission to keep them in the Premier League by playing the league leaders.

Everton is now ranked 19th in the table after three straight league losses, and Arsenal leads the league by five points, so the new manager will have to defy the odds to win his first game in charge.

He is well aware of the difficulty Mikel Arteta’s team will provide, but he is all about perseverance and organization, which he believes his team will demonstrate on Saturday and make things extremely difficult for the visitors.

‘A fine side, a very good side, obviously people are talking about them winning the title so that stands for itself,’ Dyche told a press conference on Thursday of Arsenal.

‘You’ve got to play everyone, so the way the fixtures fall is just one of them things.

‘They’re having a very good time of it, obviously at the moment. But, I think they’ve known us long enough, from my previous club, not this one. I think they’ll realise that I usually put out a team that’s ready for the challenge.

‘I don’t know but I wouldn’t imagine they’re underestimating the strength of our challenge.’

Under Dyche, Burnley was known for being a difficult test, but Arsenal rarely had trouble defeating the Clarets in the top flight.

In the Premier League from 2014 to 2020, Dyche actually lost his first nine matches against the Gunners, along with an FA Cup loss during that time.

He did, however, improve his record; in his last five matches against Arsenal as manager of Burnley, he had one victory, three ties, and just one defeat.