if you are better just put the same formation that he have and thats all. too I win 4-4-2 with my usual formation, the 4-3-3.
Is my opinion, I know I say this to all posts but is very important the control of the midfield.
Too I've seen that defenses of 3... are easy to win (for me) so, for sure (thats my opinion, here you can read 100 different than me) if you wanna win 4-4-2, you need 4 defenders, put 2 blue arrows to the 2 DC's and red to DR-DL to try to have more players attacking. that in defense, in midfield, you can win a 4-4-2 with 3, 4, or 5 MC's

For me a 1/3 is to have confidance in how you know of your team, if there is a player working well, in corner, in 1st half, or 2nd, you have to know your team and try to use this, because effective players, or not effective makes the difference. (in my case, if you wanna see my team, go to team showcase, FCBayern MÜnchen, is free entrance)