Arsenal host Everton at the Emirates Stadium as they look to continue their unbeaten home run

Arsenal host Everton at the Emirates Stadium as they look to continue their unbeaten home run in the Premier League.

Arsenal has been battling it out in the league game by game to compete with the other Merseyside club, Liverpool, for the title. A stumble last week saw them drop to third on the table behind Chelsea and Liverpool. Fulham held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw. Goals from Raul Jimenez and a crucial equaliser from Saliba saw the game fold on an even note.

Arsenal also hosted French side Monaco in the Champions League as they came out in flying colours, winning the game 3-0. A brace from Bukayo Saka and a goal off the bench from Kai Havertz took Arsenal straight to the 3rd spot on the UCL table.

Everton were supposed to be hosting Liverpool in the previous gameweek in the Premier League, but the game was called off due to bad weather conditions. Everton had over a week to recuperate 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 excited to travel away after the brink of a stellar victory that took them straight to the 15th spot with a game in hand.

Mikel Arteta will aim to build on the positive run of fixtures and come up front against his former side, but can Sean Dyche look to disrupt their home winning run?

Arsenal vs. Everton — When & Where?

Date: 14th December 2024, Saturday.
Time: 4:00 PM BST.
Venue: Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal vs. Everton — Match Officials

Referee: Craig Pawson
Assistants: Eddie Smart, Con Hatzidakis
Fourth official: Andrew Kitchen
VAR: Paul Tierney
Assistant VAR: Dan Cook

Arsenal vs Everton – Team News

Arsenal’s constant injury concerns for this season appear to have taken another turn after their defensive concerns. Riccardo Calafiori, Olekzandr Zincehnko, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Ben White are all deemed unfit for the game.

However, Arteta confirmed that Gabriel has trained with the squad and is in contention to start vs Everton.

On the other hand, for Everton, Chermiti, James Garner, and Tim Iroegbunan are all expected to miss the away trip at the Emirates. However, the extended gap of matches for the Toffees gives a good chance that defender Michael Keane can make the cut for the game.

Pre-Match Tactical Analysis

Arsenal have adapted flexibly under Arteta to suit different game scenarios. They’ve scored from open-play moves on the right-hand side (Saka-Odegaard), left-side overloads, and their highly effective corner patterns that have been the talk of the Premier League in recent weeks.

Complaints of patterns being predictable and central progression being limited have been slowly put out of the debate for the Gunners. Teams prefer doubling/tripling up against their wide creators, which sees them short on options and passive on possession. However, a game vs Everton is expected to be a difficult route for the Gunners, who’ve managed to win the previous 3 encounters with ease—the recent game being the 2-1 victory on the final day of the season where they were competing for the title.

Everton has battled relegation for the past 3 seasons, and yet again they find themselves in a similar spot. They managed to negotiate their 5-game winless run with a scintillating 4-0 win vs Wolves recently. Defensively, on their day, Everton can sit back deep in a compact 5-4-1 and wait to hit on the counter. Scoring a goal first will be crucial to exploit the gaps of the shape; we wouldn’t need to worry about not holding the ball much either.

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A usual route to goal that the Toffees use is the long ball from their English keeper, Jordan Pickford, towards either Beto or Dominic Calvert Lewin—a guy who’s been linked to Arsenal for quite some time. Boasting physical and aggressive players in their lineup, Everton look to use it to their benefit in winning duels and pressing opponents. Just as the Gunners, Everton can be a real threat from set pieces, as they scored all 4 of their goals vs Wolves from dead ball situations.

In a game where Arsenal boast one of the best home records of 2024 in the Premier League, Everton’s only away victory in 2024 was against Ipswich Town in October—which also was their last away goal on the run.

Key Players

Bukayo Saka:

Arsenal’s starboy has started this season in splendid fashion, leading the assists charts with 10 assists in the Premier League already. Saka’s effortless ability to cut in with his favourite left foot and fancy a shot at goal always poses a threat. He could make the most of it by getting in the central areas and creating more from there, whilst also delivering nasty, inswinging corners. Can Saka keep Arsenal higher up on the table after delivering in another important away fixture?

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 final third for the Gunners. One of Everton’s routes to hit the Gunners on the break will be the long balls from the keeper. DCL, who acts as a strong outlet from the front, has managed to win more aerial duels than any other top-flight striker. Gabriel and Saliba might have a field day or an off day vs. the English international.

Arsenal vs. Everton—Predicted Lineups

Arsenal predicted lineup vs Everton: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Myles Lewis Skelly, Rice, Merino, Odegaard, Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.

Everton predicted lineup vs Arsenal: Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye; Ndiaye, Doucoure, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin