Today Everton host Arsenal at Goodison Park for another fixture in the Premier League. The Toffees currently sit in 5th after a flying start to the season, meanwhile Arsenal find themselves deep in the bottom half of the table following a very poor run of form, having not won a game since the beginning of November.
The home side will be without midfielder Allan after he sustained a hamstring injury during the week, James Rodriguez will also miss out as he is still recovering from a calf injury.
Arsenal will be missing defender Gabriel after he received a suspension following a red card during the week, midfielder Granit Xhaka is also out of the squad as he is still serving his own suspension after getting sent off against Burnley last weekend. The Gunners are also without Thomas Partey in midfield, however, today could potentially see the return of Gabriel Martinelli after six months of him being out with a knee injury. The young attacker has rejoined first team training and has recently appeared for Arsenal u23’s.
Emillia Hawkins takes you through all the action as it happens.
Team News:
Everton Starting XI: Jordan Pickford, Mason Holgate, Yerry Mina, Michael Keane, Ben Godfrey, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Tom Davies, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Alex Iwobi, Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Everton Substitutes: Robin Olsen, Jonas Lossl, Jonjoe Kenny, Cenk Tosun, Niels Nkounkou, Bernard, Seamus Coleman, Anthony Gordon, Jarrad Branthwaite
Arsenal Starting XI: Bernd Leno, Kieran Tierney, David Luiz, Rob Holding (c), Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Dani Ceballos, Mohamed Elneny, Bukayo Saka, Willian, Eddie Nketiah, Nicolas Pepe.
Arsenal Substitutes: Alex Runarsson, Cedric Soares, Shkodran Mustafi, Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac, Emile Smith-Rowe, Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Martinelli, Joe Willock.
Kick Off:
2′ Early chance for Everton as Gylfi Sigurdsson crosses the ball in from the left, but nobody is on the end of it and Arsenal have a goal kick.
9′ David Luiz tries to create a chance for Arsenal as he attempts a long ball through to Nicolas Pepe, but the winger is unable to get to it and Everton receive a goal kick.
13′ Luiz receives the ball in a defensive position and does well to drive forward before sending the ball to Eddie Nketiah who sends a low driven cross into the penalty area, but the ball is comfortably cleared away.
15′ Chance for Everton as Michael Keane receives the ball in defence, drives forward and attempts a shot from long range, he is not far off target as the ball heads just wide – a very good attempt from the centre back.
Embed from Getty Images16′ Mohamed Elneny receives the first booking of the game following a foul on Sigurdsson. Both teams are looking very lively so far in this game.
22′ Goal for Everton: The Toffees take the lead as Alex Iwobi crosses the ball into Dominic Calvert-Lewin who heads the ball towards goal, but it deflects off of Rob Holding and flies past Bernd Leno and into the back of the net.
Everton 1-0 Arsenal
25′ The Gunners attempt to bounce back right away as Kieran Tierney passes the ball to Nketiah in the penalty area, despite having lots of time and space he takes the shot on first time and the ball heads wide of the right post.
33′ Penalty for Arsenal as Ainsley Maitland-Niles is taken down in the box by Tom Davies…
Embed from Getty Images35′ Goal for Arsenal: The Gunners equalise as Pepe steps up to take the penalty and slots it into the bottom left corner – Game on.
Everton 1-1 Arsenal
39′ The Toffees have a free kick on the edge of Arsenal’s penalty area after Tierney takes down Calvert-Lewin, the Scotsman is booked for the challenge. Sigurdsson steps up to take the kick but smashes the ball straight into the wall.
Embed from Getty Images45′ Everton come close to taking the lead after Calvert-Lewin finds the ball on the edge of the box, his rocket of a strike is brilliantly saved by Leno. Everton have a corner.
45′ Goal for Everton: The home side take the lead right on the stroke of half time as Sigurdsson sends the ball in from the corner, Yerry Mina meets it at the front post and his header sneaks past Leno and into the goal.
Half Time: Everton 2-1 Arsenal
Mikel Arteta will undoubtedly be frustrated with the scoreline going into half time, the Gunners desperately need a win given their recent poor form. Meanwhile, Everton will be delighted with their performance going into the second half, and will look to continue to pressurise the Arsenal defence which appears to be dropping in confidence.
Embed from Getty ImagesKick Off:
48′ Pepe drives forward and attempts to send the ball to Willian on the edge of the penalty area, but the pass is poor and Iwobi comfortably clears it.
50′ Maitland-Niles sends an excellent ball through to Pepe on the right, he drives towards the box but the final pass finds nobody and Everton clear the ball away with ease.
54′ Willian sends a cross into the Everton penalty area, Jordan Pickford tries to catch but spills it, the ball eventually falls to Luiz whose powerful shot rockets off of the crossbar – undoubtedly Arsenal’s best chance of the half so far.
Embed from Getty Images58′ The Gunners are certainly on the front foot now, the ball has hardly left the Everton half in the past 18 minutes. Arsenal are trying to create chances, however they are not getting the final product.
62′ Ben Godfrey makes an excellent run deep into the Arsenal half before sending a powerful cross into the penalty area, but nothing comes from it.
64′ Richarlison now makes a run down the left side of the pitch before cutting into the box and laying the ball off to Iwobi, but Tierney is able to get in front and steal the ball before the shot.
65′ Substitution for Arsenal, the Gunners make their first change as Joe Willock comes on to replace Mohamed Elneny.
69′ Pepe receives a long ball on the right before cutting into the middle, he attempts a shot but it is sent well over the crossbar.
71′ Substitution for Arsenal as Gabriel Martinelli comes on to make his first appearance in six months for the Gunners, he replaces goalscorer Nicolas Pepe.
Embed from Getty Images76′ Substitution for Arsenal as Eddie Nketiah is replaced by Alexandre Lacazette. The Gunners really need to come up with a goal soon if they want to get anything from this game.
77′ Everton have a free kick and Sigurdsson sends it into the box, Keane is left unmarked but luckily for Arsenal the ball goes over his head and falls behind for a goal kick.
81′ Sigurdsson sends the ball into the box from a corner, Gabriel Martinelli heads it out but it falls straight to Iwobi – his shot is on target but deflects off of Joe Willock and goes behind for another corner.
83′ Substitution for Everton as Alex Iwobi is replaced by Seamus Coleman, who returns after five games out due to injury.
Embed from Getty Images87′ The Gunners come very close to levelling the score as Maitland-Niles crosses the ball into the box, Willock heads it just wide.
90′ The fourth official has indicated that there will be an additional five minutes…
90+2′ Substitution for Everton as Jonjoe Kenny replaces Richarlison and Cenk Tosun replaces Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who receives a booking from the referee on his way off. It looks like the yellow card was given to Calvert-Lewin for time wasting.
Full Time: Everton 2-1 Arsenal
Despite their last-ditch attempts to score in the dying seconds of the match, Arsenal fail to get anything from the fixture and continue their very poor spell of results. Manager Mikel Arteta could be in trouble now as the Gunners struggle to climb the Premier League table without a win in almost two months.
Everton continue their run of good form after a great defensive display prevented Arsenal from getting back into the game. The Toffees take all three points to take them up to second in the table, Carlo Ancelotti will certainly be happy with his team going into the festive period.
Embed from Getty ImagesFor more women’s football content check out Millie Hawkins feature on Casey Stoney’s Manchester United here.
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