After booking their place at Wembley in the FA Cup, Everton turn their attention to league matters as they host a struggling Arsenal side at Goodison Park in the early kick off on Saturday. Everton reached their second semi final of the season last weekend as they defeated Chelsea 2-0 in the FA Cup quarter finals to book their place at Wembley, which added to their semi final appearance in the League Cup. Unfortunately, that cup form has not transferred to the league, where Everton have been a bitter disappointment, and their 3-2 loss to West Ham a fortnight aptly summed up their league performance this season, poor defense, inability to protect leads and bizarre managerial decisions. Arsenal themselves won’t be much happier with how the season has gone, the past fortnight has been ver poor from Arsenal having been eliminated from the Champions League midweek by Barcelona, being a surprise exit in the quarter final of the FA Cup at the hands of Watford, and their league form has seen them slip to 3rd, 11pts behind Leicester, and now have to look over their shoulder to try and hold onto their top 4 spot. With the two sides have very poor seasons, both managers will come under a bit of pressure, and both managers will be looking for the 3pts to try and ease the pressure on themselves.
Everton Team News:
Everton had no fresh injury concerns from the 2-0 win over Chelsea last weekend, however they will miss Gareth Barry as he starts his suspension following his red card against Chelsea, and Kevin Mirallas is also suspended after his red card against West Ham. In terms of injuries, Everton are looking relatively healthy with the only concern being left back Bryan Oviedo, who has been released from hospital after a chest infection, but misses this match. Aside from that, the only other absentees are long term with both Hibbert and Browning out with long term knee injuries.
Possible Starting XI: Robles, Baines, Coleman, Funes Mori, Jagielka, Besic, McCarthy, Barkley, Lennon, Cleverley, Lukaku
Player to watch: Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku produced a sensational performance as he led Everton to the 2-0 win over his former side. His brace, especially his first, showed off every aspect of his game that makes him so dangerous. The Belgian has the pace, the power, the strength, the technical ability and the finishing, and Everton fans have seen that in full force this season. Lukaku’s brace lifted him to 25 goals on the season, including 18 in the league, which leaves him 2nd only behind Kane and Vardy, but with 2 games in hand, his eyes are firmly set on the golden boot, and will be looking to add to his tally on the weekend.
Arsenal Team News:
Arsenal’s injury woes continued in the loss to Barcelona with midfielder Mathieu Flamini suffering a hamstring injury which sees him sidelined for the next couple weeks. Flamini joins the likes of Ramsey (thigh), Carzola (achilles), Cech (calf), Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee), Rosicky (thigh) and Wilshere (calf) on the sidelines.
Possible Starting XI: Ospina, Bellerin, Monreal, Gabriel, Koscielny, Elneny, Coquelin, Sanchez, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud
Player to watch: Mesut Ozil
The German has had a very impressive season despite how poor Arsenal have been, especially of late. In terms of assists, Ozil is in a class of his own, the midfielder has tallied 18 assists, which is 7 more than the next player in the league, Of course, perhaps people would hope for a better goal return, but his ability to affect the game the way he has, is more than enough. It will be Ozil at the heart of every Arsenal attack, and with a porous Everton defence, especially in the league this season, he will be looking to add to his assist tally.
Match Facts & Stats
1. Everton have had a horrid run against Arsenal in the past few years, with the Toffees having only won once in their last 17 meetings against Arsenal, which came 2 years ago as they won 3-0.
2. Everton’s home form this season has been absolutely appalling. They have only managed one win in their past 8 league home games, having lost five of those games, including the last 2 home games against West Brom and West Ham. They have only managed 2 clean sheets at home all season, which came against the bottom two, Aston Villa and Newcastle. They have conceded the most goals at home than any other side in the five major European leagues.
3. Arsenal are winless in the league in the last three games, and have only won once in their last eight games in all competitions.
4. Lukaku has scored 6 goals in his last 6 games, and is two goals shy of becoming Everton’s first 20 goal scorer in the Premier League era.
5. Arsenal have conceded 7 goals in their last 3 games, after only conceding 5 goals in their previous 8.
Match Prediction:
One can only hope to see the side that defeated Chelsea in the FA Cup, but the league has been a different story for Everton, and their home form is probably the biggest worry given they have only lost once away from home this season (which came against Arsenal). It seems like Everton have caught Arsenal at the perfect time given their horrendous run of results and their lengthy injury list, but given the history between these two sides, Arsenal will still be confident. Hard to pick a winner given the form of these two sides, expect goals in this one given they are 2 of the top 5 goalscorers in the league. I would like to think, the new investment from Moshiri, and the performance last weekend, and the let down Arsenal have from their exits from the Champions League and FA Cup, can lead to an Everton win, but I can never be confident given our record against Arsenal so I will sit on the fence and say it ends in a 2-2 draw. COYB!! LETS HAVE A STRONG END TO THE SEASON!!!!