Another weekend of Premier League action begins on Friday night with two of England’s finest over the course of time meeting on St George’s Day as Arsenal go up against Everton at the Emirates Stadium.
This is another weekend where the action is slightly truncated with two sides competing in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, but that only gives these two the chance to find a win which would move them closer to the European places.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels. The programme begins at 7.30pm with the match itself kicking off at 8pm.
Arsenal
There is no getting away from the fact that this has been a very ordinary season for Arsenal in the Premier League. They can still turn it into a more and acceptable one if they go on and win the Europa League but as far as domestically is concerned it has not been good. They have already lost 12 matches in the Premier League this season and although their only defeat in their last seven matches was to Liverpool, results have masked performances for a lot of the time.
Their latest performance against Fulham last weekend highlighted how sluggish they have been this term. They have not been great at home with just three clean sheets at the Emirates in the league so it is pretty obvious where they need to shape up moving forward. They haven’t scored as many this term as we have been used to seeing. They have just 44 league goals from their 32 matches with only their opponents here having scored fewer in the top 10.
Everton
This has been an encouraging season for Everton but it has just started to fade away in recent weeks so they will be eager to pick up a win here and launch a strong end to the campaign. They have made no secret of the fact that European football is their aim and if that is to remain a realistic proposition this season then this is a match they simply have to win. Their better results have generally come on the road this season which will give them some confidence.
Surprisingly though Everton come into this match without a win in five outings, although they have drawn their last three. Injuries have been a factor in the recent winless run but there has also been the pressure of having to win as well. By and large though they have lacked a goal threat and their poor home form has caught up with them. There is still a chance of making something out of this season but they are getting close to the last chance saloon in that regard.
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Team News
Arsenal will be without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette for this match which means that Eddie Nketiah is expected to get a start. David Luiz and Kieran Tierney are definitely out while Martin Odegaard is a doubt.
Everton will welcome a bunch of players back from injury for this match with Andre Gomes, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Yerry Mina among them. Bernard and Fabian Delph are also available for selection for Carlo Ancelotti.
Betting
Based on what we’ve seen from Arsenal for much of the season, and in particular that draw with Fulham last weekend, the price on Everton to get something out of this match looks very big, particularly when you factor in that they have been better on their travels this season than they have at home. It must be said though that their record away to Arsenal in the Premier League couldn’t be any worse but this isn’t the Arsenal juggernaut they’ve so often faced in that period.
I don’t think Everton have been terrible on this recent run, they have just lacked the energy and goal threat that Dominic Calvert-Lewin provides them but with him back to hassle the Arsenal defenders I expect Everton to come away with something here, especially when you consider their defence may not be under as much pressure as it might have been if Arsenal weren’t missing their two leading strikers. It is Everton on the +0.5 Asian line for me here which means any result other than an Arsenal win sees us win in full.
Tips
WON – Back Everton (+0.5AH) to beat Arsenal for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Bet365
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