Arsenal welcome Everton to the Emirates Stadium as they look to continue their unbeaten run in the Premier League.
Arsenal battled game by game in the league to challenge fellow Merseyside club Liverpool for the title. A fall last week saw them fall to third place in the table behind Chelsea and Liverpool. Fulham held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw. Goals from Raul Jimenez and a crucial equalizer from Saliba ensured the match ended on an even note.
Arsenal also hosted French side Monaco in the Champions League as they came out on top, winning the match 3-0. A brace from Bukayo Saka and a bench goal from Kai Havertz propelled Arsenal straight to 3rd in the UCL table.
Everton was supposed to host Liverpool in the previous Premier League matchweek, but the match was canceled due to poor weather conditions. Everton had over a week to recover from their biggest win of the season, 2 weeks back against Wolves, where they beat them 4-0 – goals from Young, Mangala and 2 unfortunate own goals from Dawson gave them a big victory.
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Sean Dyche’s Toffees will be delighted to go again after coming close to a resounding victory which took them straight to 15th place with a game in hand.
Mikel Arteta will aim to build on a run of positive matches and take on his former team, but could Sean Dyche look to disrupt their home win?
Arsenal vs Everton – When and where?
Date: December 14, 2024, Saturday.
Time: 4:00 p.m. BST.
Place: Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal v Everton – Match Officials
Arbitrator: Craig Pawson
Assistants: Eddie Smart, Con Hatzidakis
Fourth official: André Cuisine
VAR: Paul Tierney
VAR Assistant: Dan Cook
Arsenal vs Everton – Team News
Arsenal’s ongoing injury concerns this season appear to have taken another turn after their defensive woes. Riccardo Calafiori, Olekzandr Zincehnko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White are all deemed unfit for the match.
However, Arteta confirmed that Gabriel has trained with the team and is in contention to start against Everton.
On the other hand, for Everton, Chermiti, James Garner and Tim Iroegbunan are all expected to miss the away trip to the Emirates. However, the extended fixture gap for the Toffees gives defender Michael Keane a good chance of qualifying for the match.
Pre-match tactical analysis
Arsenal adapted flexibly under Arteta to adapt to different playing scenarios. They scored through open play movements on the right side (Saka-Odegaard), left side overloads and their corner schemes very effective who have been talked about in the Premier League in recent weeks.
Complaints about predictable patterns and limited central progression have slowly been eliminated from the debate for the Gunners. Teams prefer to double/triple against their wide creators, which makes them short on options and passive in possession. However, a match against Everton is expected to be a tough ride for the Gunners, who have managed to win the previous 3 meetings easily, with the recent match being the 2-1 win on the final day of the season they were competing in. for the title.
Everton have battled relegation for the last 3 seasons, and once again they find themselves in a similar situation. They managed to negotiate their 5-match winless run with a scintillating 4-0 win over Wolves recently. Defensively, on their day, Everton can sit deep in a compact 5-4-1 and wait to hit the counter. Scoring a goal first will be crucial to exploiting gaps in form; we also wouldn’t have to worry about not holding the ball much.
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A usual route to goal used by the Toffees is the long ball from their England goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, to Beto or Dominic Calvert Lewin, a guy who has been linked with Arsenal for some time. Boasting physical and aggressive players in their lineup, Everton look to use this to their advantage to win duels and press their opponents. Just like the Gunners, Everton can be a real threat from set pieces, as they scored all 4 of their goals against Wolves from dead ball situations.
In a game where Arsenal have one of the best home records of 2024 in the Premier League, Everton’s only away win in 2024 came against Ipswich Town in October, which was also their last goal in the Premier League. outside in the race.
Key players
Bukayo Saka:
The Arsenal starboy has started this season in splendid fashion, topping the assists charts with 10 assists already in the Premier League. Saka’s effortless ability to step in with his favored left foot and imagine a shot on goal always poses a threat. He could make the most of it by getting into the central areas and creating more from there, while creating nasty, tucking corners. Can Saka keep Arsenal higher on the table after delivering another important away game?
Dominic Calvert Lewin:
The former England international is an outlet from the front for the Toffees. He has the pace and physicality to cause all sorts of problems in the Gunners’ final third. One of Everton’s ways of hitting the Gunners on the break will be the goalkeeper’s long balls. DCL, who acts as a powerful outlet from the front, has managed to win more aerial duels than any other top striker. Gabriel and Saliba could have fun or have fun against the England international.
Arsenal vs Everton – Predicted Lineups
Arsenal predicted the line-up against Everton: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Myles Lewis Skelly, Rice, Merino, Odegaard, Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.
Everton predicted the line-up against Arsenal: Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye; Ndiaye, Doucouré, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin