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Arsenal Attempt To Keep The Ball Rolling

The Premier League returns today, and yet while there are a series of fascinating games that will go down between now and the end of the day, we’re more interested in what will be happening tomorrow. In addition to West Ham United taking on Chelsea in a London derby, Arsenal will also be hosting Everton at the Emirates as they aim to keep their winning streak going. The Toffees, on the other hand, are in somewhat desperate need of a victory in order to get their campaign back on track following a somewhat rocky start.

Both of these clubs know what it means to be ‘history makers’, as two of the original powerhouses both in the Premier League and English football as a whole. Their history together is well documented and while they may not exactly be viewed as bitter rivals or anything like that, they’re certainly familiar with one another – and they’ll be writing the latest chapter in their seemingly neverending story this weekend. Alas, you could definitely argue that both teams have ‘fallen’ down the ranks in recent times and we wouldn’t deny that, although when you look ahead to the future, it does feel like there are significant plans in place for both to get back to their former glories.

The two clubs have quite interesting managerial situations going on right now, too, and that’s a part of the story that we shouldn’t be sleeping on. Arsenal are still enjoying their honeymoon period under the guidance of Unai Emery, who appears to be the right fit for the Gunners after years of suffering under Arsene Wenger. Of course, some will say that we’re being a little bit harsh towards the Frenchman, but his record towards the end of his tenure there coupled with the animosity from the fans really does speak volumes.

Everton, on the other hand, find themselves in a somewhat controversial position. They’re in the midst of an inquiry into how they approached Watford regarding the signing of Marco Silva, who serves as the new manager at Goodison Park. The man himself doesn’t appear to be all too fazed by the issue, but we wouldn’t take our eyes off this story if we were you. After all, the whole thing did happen pretty quickly, and if there’s a chance that something dodgy has gone down, then the eventual repercussions could be huge for Everton, Watford, and Marco Silva himself.

In terms of the game itself, though, as we noted, both teams are coming into this with varying levels of confidence. Arsenal have been able to somewhat ‘bounce back’ after a poor start to the campaign which saw them lose back to back encounters against Manchester City and Chelsea. The way they’ve been able to turn things around is arguably courtesy of the strength of their schedule, but you can only beat what’s put in front of you and that’s what they’ve been able to do with victories over West Ham United, Cardiff City, Newcastle United and Vorskla earlier this week in the Europa League.

Everton’s journey to this point has been a little bit different, and while they’ve only lost one game domestically thus far, that still won’t be viewed as ‘good enough’ when you examine their actual record as a whole. They were unlucky not to beat Wolves on the opening day with a 2-2 draw, before dispatching of Southampton 2-1 in a game that they were somewhat fortunate to win. Then, however, things kind of fell apart, with back to back draws against Bournemouth and Huddersfield before a loss to West Ham United that was heavily ridiculed due to how poor the Hammers had been up to that point.

As we noted these two are no strangers to one another, with their first match taking place way back in 1905. Since then they’ve squared off an outrageous amount of times, with Arsenal leading the overall head to head rankings by a score of 105-60 – with 45 draws thrown in there, too. They’ve managed to win seven of their last eight games against the Toffees, with their last game taking place back in February when they won 5-1. Before that, in October, they were almost equally as impressive with a dominant 5-2 display.

Following some major changes to the starting line up for the game against Vorskla in Europe, it seems as if Unai Emery is likely to bring in many first teamers for this one as Arsenal try to keep their recent hot streak going. Laurent Koscielny (Achilles), Sead Kolasinac (knee), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (leg) and Carl Jenkinson (ankle) are all out due to injury, but the biggest question of them all will be whether or not Petr Cech is going to return in place of Bernd Leno. There have been many questions regarding who should be the club’s number one throughout the remainder of the season, and it seems as if we still won’t have a definitive answer for a few weeks or so.

After weeks of anticipation, it seems as if we could well get a glimpse of Yerry Mina this weekend after the Colombian spent time out with a foot injury. The defender’s full debut will likely serve as a big moment for the club, as he aims to solidify a place in the first team line-up for many months and potentially years to come. Phil Jagielka is still waiting to resume training after an injury of his own, whereas Andre Gomes (hamstring) and Seamus Coleman (foot) will continue to rehab ahead of a full return.

Arsenal vs Everton Betting Prediction

Arsenal have always had a tendency to slip up in these kinds of games in the past, but we question how much they’ve been able to grow under the tutelage of Unai Emery. While they’ve been fortunate to win some of their games this season they’ve definitely shown an urgency to go after the result, which is something that was lacking under Wenger. The key for this one is going to be the Gunners setting their tempo early, but for Everton, we’d suggest that they need to showcase some physicality in the middle of the park to really let them know that they’re there.

Given the style that the Gunners work with the smart idea would be to predict them to pick up the three points, but we’ve seen the impact that playing in midweek can do to a team. Still, the line-up will be entirely different for the most part, which is why we’re going to suggest that they’ll edge out a 2-1 triumph. It’s still going to be close and we think that the defensive issues need to be addressed, and for Everton, they need to figure out what system they’re going to work under and fast.