Everton vs Arsenal Prediction

As part of our weekend Premier League predictions, league leaders Arsenal visit relegation-threatened Everton. Will Dyche’s appointment galvanise Everton, or will Arsenal win for the 17th time in 20 games this season? Find out with our Everton vs Arsenal prediction.

Everton vs Arsenal Prediction Match Overview

Despite the crisis at the club and the installation of new manager Sean Dyche following their dour 2-0 defeat away to fellow strugglers West Ham, Everton have been afforded the luxury of two weeks’ rest owing to their non-involvement in cup competitions over the last week. This will have allowed Dyche and his backroom team the opportunity to put their tactical ideas across in training and prepare the players for a new era in which they find themselves threatened by relegation. It goes without saying that form has been poor for the Merseysiders – besides earning a completely unexpected point away from home against Manchester City a few weeks ago. Everton haven’t won in the Premier League since October,
and find themselves second from bottom of the Premier League form table for the last 10 matches, with this period netting the club just five points. Though they face an uphill task against the league leaders, Everton will be hoping to at least put in a more determined, resolute performance to give themselves at least a chance of obtaining a positive result.

Arsenal have continued to confound the pundits week after week and now find themselves five points clear at the summit of the Premier League at the halfway stage, with a game in hand over pre-season favourites Manchester City. Arteta’s men have managed to navigate tests of their quality and character that perhaps would’ve seen them stumble last season, and as a result, they’ve earned the right to be considered serious title challengers this season as opposed to them falling away. The 10 points earned from their last four Premier League matches, all against teams who all had the potential to derail their unbeaten run serve to reinforce this perception. Arsenal’s recent record away to Everton is a poor one, having lost three of their last four at Goodison Park, but the teams meet on Saturday under totally different circumstances.

Everton vs Arsenal Team News

Injuries and Suspensions

Everton:

Might Not Play: Godfrey, Keane

Will Not Play: Garner, Patterson, Townsend

Arsenal:

Might Not Play: Partey

Will Not Play: Elneny, Jesus, Nelson, Smith-Rowe

Everton vs Arsenal Predicted Lineups

Everton (4-4-1-1): Pickford; Mykolenko, Coady, Tarkowski, Coleman; McNeil, Onana, Gueye, Iwobi; Gray; Calvert-Lewin

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Zinchenko, Gabriel, Saliba, White; Xhaka, Partey; Martinelli, Odegaard, Saka; Nketiah

Everton vs Arsenal Prediction Analysis

Everton and Dyche-Ball

The first, and perhaps most obvious, point to note about this match is that Everton will undoubtedly be instituting a different brand of football under new manager Sean Dyche. Though Dyche’s teams have a reputation for being physical and direct, that simplification would be doing the new manager a disservice. Though Dyche favoured a 4-4-2 the vast majority of the time throughout his tenure as Burnley manager, we feel that the presence of Demarai Gray means that the squad lends itself better to a 4-4-1-1 formation, and will give Everton both a little more control in the middle of the park and also will allow Gray and Calvert-Lewin to attack rapidly in transition rather than wait for the involvement of a more traditional target man such as Ashley Barnes or Chris Wood. Arsenal will need to be mindful of the fact that Dyche’s tactics often involve luring in the opposition to press the defence before hitting the ball long into vacated areas in midfield and attack. Burnley averaged 75 back passes per game as a result of this tactic.

In the opposition half, we expect Everton under Dyche to press more aggressively than perhaps they have been so far this season, and Everton do possess a number of players who are capable of implementing this tactic. Allow ostensibly this is to win the ball back high up the pitch, it also has the added benefit of forcing the opposition into playing the ball long and playing on their terms. It remains to be seen if this group of players will also be formidable at winning aerial duels at both ends of the pitch, but we can be certain that they will be working towards this goal. Tarkowski and McNeil will both be familiar with Dyche’s tactical requirements, and also Everton have incredibly hard-working full-backs in Mykolenko, Patterson and Coleman. While it may appear to be all doom and gloom at Goodison Park, it could well be the case that they’ve made the correct managerial choice for their present situation.

Business as Usual for Arsenal?

As we’ve mentioned previously, though Arsenal do enjoy the majority of the possession against ‘lesser’ sides, it’s more of a byproduct of their attacking style as opposed to any desire to control the game with a deluge of passes across the back line and in central midfield. Arsenal don’t mind attacking directly and with numbers whenever the opportunity arises, and they will indeed need to move the ball quickly here against an Everton side that surely will prize defensive solidity and shape above all else. We can expect the central areas to be incredibly crowded and Arsenal won’t be able to rely on profiting from balls into the box from wide areas. Therefore, we feel that wide overloads for cutbacks and clever through balls from the likes of Odegaard and Xhaka in particular will be more likely to make the breakthrough here. It’s not that Dyche’s Burnley sides were never torn apart, it’s more that they made it difficult to play seamless attacking football without finding an early breakthrough. The longer the game remains at 0-0, the more comfortable Everton will be in retaining their shape and demonstrating their threat on the counter.

It would be foolish to suggest that Arsenal aren’t capable of rising to the challenge when it comes to facing well-disciplined defences. While Newcastle were able to earn a 0-0 draw against them recently, Everton don’t come into this match with the confidence and perhaps the quality of defenders that Newcastle have at their disposal, so it’s unlikely that Arsenal will be unduly perturbed by the return of one of the Premier League’s better defensive coaches. That said, Arsenal must improve at defending set pieces, though it’s perhaps doubtful that Everton will have had the time to work upon one of Dyche’s preferred avenues of attack with only a week or so to prepare under his tutelage.

Beat the Bookmaker Everton vs Arsenal Prediction

The disparity between the two sides this season means it would take a brave person indeed to look past the league leaders who continue to go from strength to strength during this campaign. However, we expect Everton to perform with greater resilience and organisation that was undoubtedly missing during the last 10 matches or so of Frank Lampard’s tenure. However, it’s entirely possible that Everton will be able to keep Arsenal at bay for periods of this match. With a defensively-minded incoming manager and a squad that will be keen to impress, coupled with the pressing need for a positive result at home to lift the mood around Goodison Park, we feel that Arsenal will emerge with a hard-fought 1-0 win.

Everton 0-1 Arsenal

Beat the Bookmaker Everton vs Arsenal Prediction – Under 2.5 Goals Odds: