Venue: Emirates Stadium
Date: 21/05/2017
Kick-off: 15:00 (BST)
Everton travel to the Emirates Stadium to square off against Arsenal on Sunday and the Toffees will be hopeful of ending the campaign on a high with a good result from the encounter.
There was a lot of expectations placed on the shoulders of Ronald Koeman when he was appointed manager over the summer and it has to be said that the Dutchman has impressed since his arrival to Goodison Park.
Although Everton were not quite good enough to challenge for a top four finish, they safely managed to secure 7th place in the Premier League table and things are certainly looking up for the Merseyside based outfit heading into the future.
Everton now end their campaign with a clash against Arsenal and Koeman will be hopeful that his side is able to close out the season with a positive result.
Everton Team News
Ronald Koeman has a number of injury concerns to deal with heading into the clash as the likes of Yannick Bolasie, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Seamus Coleman, Ramiro Funes Mori, Aaron Lennon, Ademola Lookman, James McCarthy and Maarten Stekelenburg all remain ruled out.
Despite the numerous injuries, Everton have proven that they can hold their own and Koeman is unlikely to be making too many changes to the lineup which started in the victory over Watford last weekend.
Joel Robles will be starting in goal behind the backline consisting of Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams and Mason Holgate while the central midfield should consist of Idrissa Gueye and Morgan Schneiderlin.
In the attacking positions, Ross Barkley, Tom Davies and Kevin Mirallas look certain to be starting but the duo of Enner Valencia and Arouna Kone also provide useful options to choose from.
Romelu Lukaku will be leading the line for Everton and he will be desperate to claim victory in the race for the Golden Boot after seeing Tottenham’s Harry Kane overtake him in the goalscoring charts recently.
Probable Lineups
Arsenal (Probable XI): Cech; Koscielny, Mustafi, Holding; Bellerin, Monreal; Xhaka, Ramsey; Ozil, Sanchez, Welbeck
Everton (Probable XI): Robles; Baines, Jagielka, Williams, Holgate; Davies, Gueye, Schneiderlin, Barkley, Mirallas; Lukaku
Last Meeting
13/12/2016 Everton 2 – 1 Arsenal
19/03/2016 Everton 0 – 2 Arsenal
Prediction
Arsenal have enjoyed dominance over Everton at the Emirates Stadium and given the fact that the Gunners simply need to win the game in order to keep their top four aspirations alive, the North London side will have to be considered favourites heading into the game.
Everton will surely put in a strong performance but Arsenal have everything to play for during the encounter and one should expect the home side to claim all three points on the day.
Arsenal 2-1 Everton
