Everton vs Arsenal: Match preview, team news, tickets and prediction

• Tweet
• Pin It

Arsenal return to Premier League action after the international break as they take on Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.

Prior to the two-week hiatus, Arsenal secured a thrilling 3-1 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium so went into the international break in confident mood. After Marcus Rashford had given United a fortunate lead, Arsenal quickly levelled things up thanks to a fine Martin Odegaard goal. A Garnacho ‘goal’ was rightly ruled out with Gabriel Magalhaes doing well to catch his countryman offside.

Declan Rice then put the Gunners ahead in stoppage time with his first goal for the club since his £105m move from West Ham. Gabriel Jesus then came off the bench to wrap things up in the dying minutes to give Arsenal a morale-boosting 3-1 victory over their rivals. You could see what it meant to the players at the final whistle and that win should give Mikel Arteta’s squad confidence that last seasons’ title tilt wasn’t a flash in the pan and they can challenge once again this campaign.

Beating Man Utd also made up for Arsenal dropping two silly points in their previous home fixture after drawing 2-2 against 10-man Fulham. It means the Gunners have taken 10 points from a possible 12 at the start of the new campaign. That’s a very reasonable return, but no doubt Arteta will rue those dropped points against the Cottagers as he knows you cannot afford to lose ground on Manchester City if you want to win the title.

City are already sitting at the top of the table after taking a maximum 12 points from their opening four games. Pep Guardiola’s side face a tough trip to West Ham on Saturday so Arsenal will hope to close the gap if City drop points at the London Stadium by beating Everton on Merseyside.

However, Goodison Park has been something of a bogey ground for Arsenal lately. The Londoners have lost four and drawn one of their last five trips meaning they are winless at Goodison Park since winning 5-2 in Arsene Wenger’s final season in charge. Arteta will want to put that record straight on Sunday and it could be a good time to play Everton as they’ve endured a tough start to the new season.

Sean Dyche is already feeling the pressure as Everton sit in the bottom three with just one point from their opening four matches. After losing at home to Fulham on the opening weeks, the Toffees were thrashed 4-0 at Aston Villa before losing at home to Wolves. They managed to go away with a 2-2 draw from Sheffield United last time out but Dyche knows he needs to start picking up wins soon.

Team news

Arsenal were given an injury scare after Gabriel was spotted with an ice pack on his leg after being forced off while playing for Brazil last week. Thankfully it was only a precaution as the defender has been in training this week and is expected to be in contention to face Everton on Sunday.

Whether he starts or not is another question though as Arteta has tinkered with his defence this season. Gabriel was dropped for the first three matches before being recalled against Man Utd last time out.

Thomas Partey played at right-back during the early games with Ben White alongside William Saliba in the middle of defence. However, Partey has been ruled out for several weeks with a groin injury, which could mean a prolonged run in the team for Gabriel.

Arsenal will also be without Jurrien Timber as the summer signing has been ruled out for at least six months with an ACL injury that he sustained on the opening weekend of the season.

The Gunners have no other fresh injury concerns to worry about but Arteta will want to assess all of his players once they report back from international duty. Especially his Brazilian contingent following their long-haul flight back from South American.

As for Everton, they have a number of players on the treatment table ahead of the game. Seamus Coleman is certain to miss out with a knee injury while Dele Alli is also ruled out with a groin complaint.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin will need a late fitness test on a facial injury while Andre Gomes, Lewis Dobbin, Jack Harrison, Michael Keane and Jarras Branthwaite are also doubts who’ll need to be checked.

Expected line-ups

Arteta is unlikely to deviate too much from the side that beat Man Utd before the international break. We should see the same back four with Oleksandr Zinchenko keeping his place at left-back. Gabriel, Saliba and White should make-up the back four with Aaron Ramsdale in goal.

Rice and Odegaard are certain starters but some fans are calling for Kai Havertz to be dropped after a difficult start to his Arsenal career. However, Arteta seems to be sticking by the German and he might be given another chance to impress this weekend.

The one change we could see is up front with Jesus pushing for a recall after coming off the bench to score a fine goal against Man Utd. Eddie Nketiah may be the man to make way with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli expected to keep their places out wide.

Everton:  Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Godfrey, Young; Onana, Gueye; Garner, Doucoure, Danjuma; Beto

Arsenal: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Martinelli, Jesus

How to watch

The match has been chosen for live broadcast and will be shown on Sky Sports at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon. Sky Sport subscribers can watch via their box, online or on a tablet via Sky Go.

If you’re lucky enough to have a ticket for the game, you’ll have the best seat in the house watching the game live at Goodison Park. You can still buy tickets on Seatsnet.com but act quickly as the match is expected to be sold out.

Prediction

Arsenal have been poor in recent trips to Goodison Park so they’ll want to put that right this weekend. Everton have been playing badly this season but they seem to raise their game when the big clubs come to town so Arsenal can’t underestimate them.

The Gunners haven’t been firing on all cylinders themselves yet this season but they should still be too strong for Everton. Arteta will want to stop giving away cheap goals and if they can do that, then Arsenal should have enough quality to get the job done. Everton 1-2 Arsenal

• Tweet
• Pin It