Everton vs Arsenal; Premier League
Everton vs Arsenal. Premier League.
Goodison ParkAttendance39,336.
Everton vs Arsenal preview
Watch match highlights at 5.15pm on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app
Friday 20 December 2019 14:57, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Everton vs Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday (kick-off 12.30pm).
Team news
Everton caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson is hopeful of having a couple of players back for Saturday's Premier League clash with Arsenal.
The Toffees have been battling something of an injury crisis, while a bug has also affected a number of players. Theo Walcott, Morgan Schneiderlin, Lucas Digne, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Djibril Sidibe and Fabian Delph all missed the midweek Carabao Cup defeat by Leicester while Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Andre Gomes are long-term absentees.
Arsenal trio Hector Bellerin (hamstring), Rob Holding (knee) and Mesut Ozil (foot) are all being assessed ahead of the trip to Goodison Park. Granit Xhaka will be available after he suffered concussion against West Ham.
However, Dani Ceballos (hamstring), Sead Kolasinac (ankle) and Kieran Tierney (shoulder) will all be missing for the Gunners, although the Real Madrid loanee should return to training next week.
To compound the Gunners' problems, Sokratis Papastathopoulos is banned for this fixture after receiving his fifth yellow card in the Premier League this season in the loss at home to Manchester City.
How to follow
Follow the action with our dedicated live blog. Highlights of the game will be published at 5.15pm on Saturday on the Sky Sports website and app plus the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
Opta stats
- Everton won this exact fixture 1-0 in April, but haven't won back-to-back league games against Arsenal since a run of three between March 1985-April 1986.
- Arsenal have won more Premier League games (33) and scored more Premier League goals (107) against Everton than they have against any other side in the competition.
- Having kept a clean sheet in both of their opening two Premier League games this season, Everton have conceded at least once in 14 of their last 15 matches.
- Since losing 2-6 at home to Tottenham in December last year, Everton have won four of their last five home Premier League games against London sides (D1).
- Arsenal are looking to secure consecutive away league wins within the same season for the first time since October 2018 (a run of three). However, the Gunners have won just three of their last 36 Premier League away games against fellow ever-present sides (D11 L22), most recently at Everton in October 2017.
- In all competitions, Arsenal are without a clean sheet in their last 14 games, their longest streak since a run of 21 games between October 1983-February 1984.
- Everton have scored a league-high share 65% of their Premier League goals in the first half of games this season (13/20). Meanwhile, only bottom three sides Norwich (20) and Southampton (18) have conceded more goals in the opening 45 minutes than the Gunners (16).
- Arsenal have conceded the first goal in more Premier League games than any other side this season (11). In no other Premier League season have the Gunners conceded first in as many games before Christmas (also 11 in 2006-07).
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's 11 Premier League goals have been worth 11 points to Arsenal this season, more than any other player in the division. He's scored in six of the Gunners' last seven league wins, including 4/5 this season.
- 14 different players to have previously played for Arsenal in the Premier League have then scored against them in the competition, with Everton's Alex Iwobi and Theo Walcott potentially joining that list in this match. Cesc Fàbregas was the last player to do so in Chelsea's 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge in February 2017 against the Gunners.
Charlie's prediction
I imagine Carlo Ancelotti will be in by this game, although he may not be in the dugout, but it's an intriguing signing for them. He has a great CV and as a player, I enjoyed watching him. He is a stylish and well-respected gentleman, much like Claudio Ranieri, with an even better winning mentality. He gives players respect and he wants respect back by them giving him everything they have.
Duncan Ferguson has got the edge back into them. Goodison Park was one of the toughest grounds to go to in the 1980s. Everton are so in-your-face, they are aggressive towards the opposition and if they are like this with Arsenal, they will get a lot of joy.
The way Everton have been looking, I think in this one they could turn over Arsenal, who look soft at the moment.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 2-1 (17/2 with Sky Bet)
