Arsenal welcome Everton to the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Gunners claimed a 1-0 victory over the Toffees in December’s reverse fixture.
Match preview
Arsenal were held to a 1-1 stalemate at Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday.
Robert Andrich opened the scoring for the hosts in the 46th minute from a corner.
Arsenal struggled to create chances for much of the game. However, Gabriel Martinelli hit the crossbar in the 19th minute after a blistering counter-attack from the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta’s side finally drew level in the 89th minute after Noni Madueke was brought down in the area and Kai Havertz converted the spot kick against his former employers.
Arsenal extended their lead at the summit to seven points following their 1-0 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest last time out.
Bukayo Saka scored the only goal inside the opening nine minutes of the game on his 300th Arsenal appearance.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last six Premier League games against Everton (W4, D2), having lost four of their previous five against them (W1).
Everton defeated Burnley 2-0 in their last Premier League outing. James Tarkowski broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute with a header from close range.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall doubled the Toffees’ lead on the hour mark, securing all three points. They currently sit eighth in the Premier League standings with 43 points.
Everton have won just one of their last 29 away league games against Arsenal (D5, L23), picking up a 1-0 win in April 2021.
Team news
Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard both missed the Gunners’ midweek trip to the BayArena and are doubts for this game, while Mikel Merino is absent with a foot injury.
Jack Grealish and Carlos Alcaraz are sidelined for Everton, while Seamus Coleman could shake off a knock and return to the matchday squad.
Predicted line-ups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Zubimendi, Saka, Eze, Martinelli, Havertz.
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Garner, Gueye, McNeil, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye, Barry.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Everton.
