Arsenal vs Everton Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Oct 14, 2015 @ 01:58 pm

Arsene Wenger will be a very happy man as he prepares for the visit of Everton in the evening kick off this Saturday. Just under a month ago a shocking defeat to Olympiakos in the Champions League has been followed up by 3 successive victories and 3 clean sheets which has put their Premier League and Champions League aspirations back on track. Roberto Martinez won’t have enjoyed the scheduling of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal in succession and United gave Everton their 2^nd defeat of the season.

Arsenal have qualified for every knockout stage of the Champions League since 2000 but the proud record was in serious jeopardy after back-to-back group stage defeats against Dinamo Zagreb and then Olympiakos. However, a brilliant victory over Bayern Munich on Tuesday night gave them some hope after goals from Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil. It was the first time Munich had dropped any points this season after winning all 12 games, scoring 40 and conceding just 5 in the process. 3 Premier League victories in a row all by the 3 goal margin has also climbed them into 2^nd position just 2 points off Manchester City who play Sunday so Wenger’s side have a great opportunity to lead the table. After netting just 6 goals in 7 games in all competitions, they’ve now gone on to score 17 goals in the following 6 games.

Roberto Martinez finds his side in 9^th despite losing 2 games this season to both Manchester clubs at Goodison Park. The fixture schedule wasn’t particularly kind to them with Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and now Arsenal all facing Everton in the first 10 Premier League fixtures. Everton perform much better on the road as they’re currently unbeaten in 4 Premier League away games, accumulating 8 points. They’ve kept 3 clean sheets away from home and the ‘core’ of Tim Howard, Jon Stones and Phil Jagielka has been a key part of that. Martinez will know Everton’s campaign won’t be decided by results against the likes of Arsenal but will need to pick up points where they can if they wish for European football to return to Goodison.

Unfortunately for Everton, Arsenal boast a very good record against them. In the last 16 Premier League meetings, Arsenal have lost just 1 time and won 9. Arsenal’s joint Premier League record win also came against Everton back in May 2005 with a 7-0 victory. Between Highbury and the Emirates, Arsenal have won 65 of 97 home games against Everton. The visitors have scored 75% of their goals in the second half of Premier League games this year.

Tom Cleverley and Steven Pienaar made their long awaited comebacks for Everton for the U21s side midweek and could both be back amongst the substitute’s bench after coming through with no problems. Martinez will be without Leighton Baines though as he recovers from an ankle injury. Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck are likely to remain out of Wenger’s plans until the New Year at least and has an outside chance of Wilshere returning for the Christmas period.

Arsenal

Stats: W-6 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - WLWWW

Everton

Stats: W-3 L-2 D-4

Recent Form - DWWDL

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Arsenal (4-2-3-1) – Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott. 

Everton (4-2-3-1) – Howard, Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Galloway, McCarthy, Barry, Deulofeu, Barkley, Kone, Lukaku. .

Injury List/Suspended Players

Arsenal – Wilshere (inj), Welbeck (inj), Ospina (inj), Rosicky (inj).

Everton – Baines (inj), Besic (inj), Hibbert (inj)

Arsenal v Everton Head to Head

League Positions