Premier League | Gameweek 16

Dec 14, 2024 at 3pm UK

Emirates Stadium

Arsenalvs.Everton

Match preview

Dejection turned to delight for Bukayo Saka on Wednesday night as the Arsenal academy graduate, who had a last-gasp winner disallowed in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Fulham, had a hand in all three goals as Monaco visited the Gunners in the Champions League.

Saka's brace and assist for Kai Havertz helped Arsenal to an ultimately comfortable victory over a mistake-prone Monaco side who were lucky not to have been three or four goals down in the opening 45 minutes, with Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard both spurning glorious chances.

Now on the cusp of automatic qualification for the last 16, Arsenal - who scored all three of Wednesday's goals from set-pieces - have a number of Premier League mistakes to correct after their momentum stalled at Craven Cottage, leaving them third in the table, six points behind Liverpool with a game in hand.

Some pessimistic Gooners may be writing off their side's title hopes after a fifth stalemate of the season, but the race for glory is far from a foregone conclusion and Arsenal remain unbreakable at the Emirates so far this season.

Indeed, Wednesday's win over Monaco was the third consecutive home game in which Arsenal have both scored multiple goals and kept a clean sheet, and their 81% home win rate in the Premier League is their best since triumphing in 84% of such matches in 2007.

The only Premier League fixture to fall victim to last weekend's devastating Storm Darragh, Everton and Liverpool's final top-flight derby at Goodison Park was postponed to a later date, a postponement undoubtedly more inconvenient for the Toffees than the Reds.

Dyche's men would have welcomed their bitter rivals to their headquarters on the back of their best performance of the season, a 4-0 thrashing of relegation-threatened Wolves on a day when Ashley Young scored a superb free-kick and Craig Dawson twice found the back of the net.

Prior to the thrashing of Gary O'Neil's men, Everton had gone four Premier League games without a goal, five without a win and had scored just five goals in their previous eight games, but the demolition of Wolves strengthened their grip on the relegation zone.

The 15th-placed Toffees are five points clear of 18th-placed Ipswich Town with a game in hand, but the Tractor Boys are coincidentally the only team Everton have beaten away from home in the Premier League in 2024, having failed to break the deadlock at Southampton, West Ham United and Manchester United.

Having won four of their five Premier League meetings with Arsenal between December 2020 and February 2023, Everton have now lost their last three against the Gunners, although Arsenal's 2-1 home win on the final day of last season was ultimately in vain.

Recent Performance

Arsenal Premier League form:LDWWWD

Arsenal form (all competitions):WWWWDW

Everton Premier League form:DLDDLW

Team News

Arsenal's defensive injury crisis appeared to take another turn for the worse when Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber both missed training on Tuesday, but both were able to feature against Monaco, the former in his makeshift right-back role.

Riccardo Calafiori (knee), Gabriel Magalhaes (unspecified), Oleksandr Zinchenko (muscle), Ben White (knee) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) all missed out, but Arteta has confirmed that Gabriel is training again and is in contention to return.

Timber was an unused substitute for the visit of Monaco, allowing Myles Lewis-Skelly to impress at left-back, but the Dutchman should replace his teenage colleague in one of several changes for the hosts.

Meanwhile, Everton's extended break has given Dyche and Co more time to recuperate their injured troops, and there is a good chance that defender Michael Keane will return from a knee problem in time to face the Gunners.

However, Chermiti (unspecified), James Garner (back) and Tim Iroegbunam (ankle) are all expected to miss the trip to the Emirates, with Dyche unlikely to make any changes to the starting XI that beat Wolves in midweek.

As such, Dominic Calvert-Lewin - who has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal in the January transfer window - should keep Beto at bay up front, although he has now gone 10 Premier League games without scoring.

Possible starting lineup

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Rice, Merino; Saka, Havertz, Trossard

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye; Ndiaye, Doucoure, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin