Everton welcome Arsenal to Goodison Park in a tasty encounter between two teams at opposite ends of the Premier League table.
Everton could start this match in sixth if Man City beat Southampton earlier on Saturday, although a win would see them go second in the table.
Arsenal meanwhile could go as high as 13th with victory although 14th is more likely unless the Gunners win by a four goal margin.
Team News
Seamus Coleman could return for Everton after missing recent matches with a hamstring injury.
James Rodriguez (calf) is also in contention to feature but Allan (hamstring) is ruled out and joins Lucas Digne (ankle), Jean-Phillipe Gbamin (Achilles) and Fabian Delph (hamstring) on the Toffees’ absentee list.
Arsenal will be without Gabriel who is suspended after being sent off in Wednesday’s draw against Southampton.
Granit Xhaka is serving the last of a two match ban as the pair join Thomas Partey (thigh) on the sidelines whilst Hector Bellerin returns from an one match ban alongside Gabriel Martinelli (fitness).
Stat Attack
- Everton have taken just four points from their last seven league matches against Arsenal (W1, D1, L5).
- Arsenal have won just one of their last four trips to Everton (W1, D1, L2).
- In 56 Premier League meetings, Arsenal have never been awarded a penalty against Everton who scored from their only spot-kick in this fixture.
- Mason Holgate and Michael Keane are the only two Everton defenders to have made last man tackles this season in the league, having both managed to produce one such tackle each.
- Arsenal are yet to make any errors which led to them conceding a league goal this season.
Prediction
Everton were superb at Leicester on Wednesday because they just soaked up the Foxes’ attack before clinically taking their chances, which should give them confidence here if Arsenal roll up with a fierce display in a desperate bid for victory to end their rut otherwise they should dominate this on the attack.
Arsenal on the other hand put in a relatively decent performance against Southampton with excellent defending in the second half, yet were sloppy in giving away the ball throughout the first half, not to mention their obvious discipline issues which Everton could look to expose if can frustrate the Gunners long enough.
Either way, I reckon this is Everton’s to lose because they can afford to try and sit back and let Arsenal come at them before hitting them on the sucker, or they will repeat what they did against Chelsea in a more open game.
Prediction: Everton 2-0 Arsenal
Result: Everton 2-1 Arsenal