Venue: Goodison Park
Date: 19/03/2016
Kick-off: 12:45 (BST)
Match
Everton square off against Arsenal at Goodison Park on Saturday and the match should be an interesting encounter between two quality attacking teams who are a bit susceptible at the back.
Everton have endured a roller coaster time in the Premier League but they managed to seal a place in the semi finals of the FA Cup following a 2-1 victory over Chelsea last weekend and the mood in the Toffees’ camp is a positive one at the moment.
While it is all good performing well in the cup competitions, the Premier League is the bread and butter for Everton and the Toffees will be hopeful of getting back to winning ways this weekend when they square off against a struggling Arsenal side at Goodison Park.
Everton Team News
The likes of Darron Gibson, Bryan Oviedo and Steven Pienaar are doubtful ahead of the clash while the duo of Gareth Barry and Kevin Mirallas will be unavailable due to suspensions.
Joel Robles will start in goal, while the defence should consist of the likes of Leighton Baines, Ramiro Funes Mori, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman – meaning that John Stones will once again have to be content with a place on the bench.
With Barry missing, Muhamed Besic is likely to come in at the middle of the park alongside James McCarthy while the attacking midfield positions will be occupied by the trio of Aaron Lennon, Ross Barkley and Tom Cleverley.
Romelu Lukaku scored a personally satisfying brace against Chelsea last weekend and the young Belgian will be keen on continuing his wonderful run of form on Saturday as well.
Probable Lineups
Everton (Probable XI): Robles; Baines, Funes Mori, Jagielka, Coleman; Besic, McCarthy, Cleverley, Barkley, Lennon; Lukaku
Arsenal (Probable XI): Ospina; Monreal, Gabriel, Mertesacker, Bellerin; Elneny, Coquelin, Ozil, Walcott, Sanchez; Welbeck
Last Meeting
04/10/2015 Arsenal 2 – 1 Everton
01/03/2015 Arsenal 2 – 0 Everton
Prediction
Arsenal do boast a good record against Everton but they have been unable to beat the Toffees at Goodison Park over the last three seasons and one can be sure that the Gunners will find it very difficult to rectify it this weekend as well.
While Everton are very inconsistent, they are on a high heading into Saturday’s encounter while Arsenal are struggling with both confidence as well as form. The match should be a very entertaining one for the neutrals and a high scoring draw looks the most likely outcome at the moment.
Everton 2-2 Arsenal
