Arsenal icon Keown urges Lampard to stick to a back five with Iwobi on the right

Arsenal icon Martin Keown has insisted that sticking to a back five can be key to Everton surviving relegation at the end of the 2021-2022 season.

The Toffees are currently sitting 18th in the Premier League table, two points behind Burnley but hold a game in hand over the in-form Clarets.

Frank Lampard's team earned a morale-boosting 1-0 win against world champions Chelsea in their last league match, with the former England midfielder deploying Alex Iwobi as a right wing-back.

The right wing-back position is not entirely new for the Super Eagles star having played the same role during his days with Arsenal and in a couple of matches for Everton.

Keown says Colombia's 2018 World Cup star Yerry Mina benefited from having four other defenders beside him in the win against Chelsea.

Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, Keown stated : "They were tough, resilient, and the returning Yerry Mina was a commanding and important figure at the heart of that defence, particularly from set pieces.

"That's an area from which Everton have struggled this season. Mina benefitted from having the mobile Seamus Coleman and Mason Holgate on either side of him, while the ever-improving Vitalii Mykolenko on the left and the versatile Alex Iwobi on the right."

Iwobi and his teammates will aim to make it three wins in five matches when they tackle Kelechi Iheanacho's Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : evertonfc.com

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