Arsenal head to Goodison Park on Tuesday bidding to reclaim Premier league top spot after Chelsea's returned to the summit with a narrow win over West Brom.
The Gunners will leapfrog Antonio Conte's if they extend their unbeaten run in the top flight to 15 games with a win at Goodison Park.
It marks the first of two crunch games for Arsene Wenger's men as they attempt to underline their title credentials at Everton before a trip to Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Everton’s season this time around has
been sheer inconsistent. Although they started their campaign with
flying colors, the Toffees have faltered significantly in recent games.
Ronald Koeman’s men have failed to register a single win in their last four Premier League matches. In the last match against Bournemouth, they gave away their 1-0 lead and crumbled to a 3-2 defeat eventually. With 20 points credited to them, Everton is in the ninth position of the Premier League table.
Yannick Bolasie and Mo Besic are the only first-team absentees with long-term knee ligament problems.
Gabriel could deputise at centre-back for Arsenal, with Shkodran Mustafi missing through hamstring trouble.
Rob Holding is likely to come into the squad for the Premier League trip as further cover in central defence, with Mustafi out of action for three weeks.
Aaron Ramsey remains sidelined with a hamstring problem of his own, with Arsenal's longer-term injured stars still not ready to return.
"It's all about commitment of players, bringing your quality to the team and that's why we spoke together about how we can do it together to get a better run of results.
"But finally the answer is on the pitch, not between the four walls in a meeting room.
"Of course we will not win every game but one out of 10 is underperforming for everyone."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "When you look at the teams around us, you can see that the margin of difference between the teams has shrunk a lot. So the way you respond in every single game is absolutely vital.
"What is for sure is at the moment every game is like a cup final for everybody. We just came out of a game where we were 1-0 down and for the sixth time in the season, we come back after having been down.
"So let's continue to focus on that, on our resilience and on our motivation and after let's see how far we can go."
Everton v Arsenal: Opta facts
Ronald Koeman’s men have failed to register a single win in their last four Premier League matches. In the last match against Bournemouth, they gave away their 1-0 lead and crumbled to a 3-2 defeat eventually. With 20 points credited to them, Everton is in the ninth position of the Premier League table.
Yannick Bolasie and Mo Besic are the only first-team absentees with long-term knee ligament problems.
Gabriel could deputise at centre-back for Arsenal, with Shkodran Mustafi missing through hamstring trouble.
Rob Holding is likely to come into the squad for the Premier League trip as further cover in central defence, with Mustafi out of action for three weeks.
Aaron Ramsey remains sidelined with a hamstring problem of his own, with Arsenal's longer-term injured stars still not ready to return.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Everton manager Ronald Koeman: "We need to win now. Every week there are several meetings about this [with the players]."It's all about commitment of players, bringing your quality to the team and that's why we spoke together about how we can do it together to get a better run of results.
"But finally the answer is on the pitch, not between the four walls in a meeting room.
"Of course we will not win every game but one out of 10 is underperforming for everyone."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "When you look at the teams around us, you can see that the margin of difference between the teams has shrunk a lot. So the way you respond in every single game is absolutely vital.
"What is for sure is at the moment every game is like a cup final for everybody. We just came out of a game where we were 1-0 down and for the sixth time in the season, we come back after having been down.
"So let's continue to focus on that, on our resilience and on our motivation and after let's see how far we can go."
Everton v Arsenal: Opta facts
- Everton's only win in their last 18 league games against Arsenal was their 3-0 victory in April 2014 (D6 L11).
- Arsenal have won more Premier League games against Everton (29) than they have against any other side.
- In fact, Everton have lost 93 times to Arsenal in the league, the most defeats by one club to another in English league history.
- A win for the Gunners at Goodison Park would make it their 12th in the Premier League there - only at Villa Park (12) have they obtained as many away wins at a single ground.
- Everton have conceded exactly two goals in each of their last four league games against Arsenal.
- Olivier Giroud has scored five goals in his last six games against Everton in all competitions.
- The Gunners haven't lost on a Tuesday in the Premier League since February 2006 v Liverpool (W10 D7).
- Romelu Lukaku has scored (9) or assisted (3) 12 of Everton's last 15 Premier League goals.
- Since the start of 2013-14, Lukaku has scored 52 of Everton's 187 Premier League goals (28%) and no other player has more than 20 goals for the club in this period.
- Alexis Sanchez has had a hand in 26 goals in his last 26 Premier League appearances for Arsenal (18 goals, 8 assists).
AgaasportNews Predicted Scores:
Arsenal Fc 2 Everton 1
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