Jamie Carragher claims Premier League teams should fear Everton star who is 'best in the league'

Jamie Carragher has named Everton defender James Tarkowski as the best in the Premier League from set-pieces during Monday Night Football last night.

Everton endured a frustrating evening at Goodison Park after they limped to a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace. Amadou Onana's late header brought them level after they went behind in the second half to a Jordan Ayew strike but it was yet another frustrating performance for the home fans making it just one win in 12 games.

One player who did enjoy a strong performances was Tarkowski; in what was a typical display for the former Burnley defender, he produced five clearances, interceptions, two tackles and blocked two shots as well as winning all five of his ground duels and managing an impressive 13 completed long balls out of 19 attempts. Although, he should have done better with one particular moment in front of goal. Earmarked before the game as one of Everton's best threats, Carragher waxed lyrical about the defender's quality from set pieces in the pre-match analysis, labelling as the best in the league.

"He's the best in the Premier League from set pieces" He began. "Every time there's a set piece, he manages to get his head on it first, it can't just be positional - it can't be - but his power, to be able to hold people off, being in the right position and he just seems to be a magnet in the box.

"That's why for me, he's been Everton's most important defensive player by a mile - not just this season but the last two seasons. I think the most important thing for other teams [when playing Everton] is to stop Tarkowski from set pieces and it takes me back to when I was a player playing against Everton and it was Duncan Ferguson. How do you stop him at set pieces? We used to put two men on him, I think that's something other teams will have to do in the future with Tarkowski."

Signed on a free transfer from Burnley, he's made 72 appearances and his availability has been extremely important as he hasn't suffered an injury that has caused him to miss a game since arriving at the club.