What: English Premier League
Who: Everton (12th; 15 points) vs Arsenal (3rd; 23 points)
When: Sunday 14th November, 2010, at 14:00 UK Time
Where: Goodison Park, Liverpool, England
Draw Specialists
Everton will look to rediscover their scoring touch when they take on Arsenal at Goodison Park in this intriguing Premier League battle. The Toffees have amongst the best defensive records in the English top flight, however their goals for record is near the bottom of the pack. This lack of goals (13 goals in 12 matches) has been a factor in the club drawing half of their matches this season.
After a slow start, David Moyes’ side have been in fine form recently having not lost a league match since mid-September. This is a team that expects to be contesting for a European place, but if Everton are to continue to move up the table however, they will want to ensure they win matches like their midweek 1-1 home draw with Bolton Wanderers and last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Blackpool. Those are the type of fixtures that the club will feel they should be taking maximum points from and in the future will have to win if they are to feature in the top half of an increasingly competitive Premier League.
Gunners’ Away Comforts
In another season where the jury is still out as to whether Arsenal have what it takes to challenge for the title, Arsene Wenger’s side have been undone by poor home form which has seen them lose to both West Brom and Newcastle recently. Away from home though, the Gunners have been more impressive, amassing 11 of their current 23 points.
The North London side have shown an ability to bounce back from bad results this season and followed up their disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Newcastle last weekend with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Wolves. With matches against the league’s top sides such as Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur coming up in the next month, Arsenal will need to bring some more consistency to the table if they want to keep within reach of the league leaders heading into the New Year. But it is something Wenger is backing his side to do: "It is by far the most open [title race] I have experienced", said the Frenchman, while warning that clubs such as Everton pose a dangerous threat. "If you look at some other teams who are in the middle of the table, the quality of the teams they have is absolutely amazing."
Recent form
Everton:
Everton 1-0 Stoke City
(30/10; Premier League)
Blackpool 2-2 Everton
(06/11; Premier League)
Everton 1-1 Bolton
(10/11; Premier League)
Arsenal:
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Arsenal
(03/11; Champions League)
Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle
(07/11; Premier League)
Wolverhampton 0-2 Arsenal (10/11; Premier League)
Key absences
Everton: Marouane Fellaini (suspended); Victor Anichebe; Leon Osman; John Heitinga (doubt)
Arsenal: Laurent Koscielny (suspended); Thomas Vermaelen; Abou Diaby; Kieran Gibbs (doubt); Aaron Ramsey; Emmanuel Frimpong
Players to watch
Everton – Tim Cahill: The Australian midfielder has been one of Everton’s top performers since he joined the team back in 2004. Since then Cahill has scored more than 50 goals for the club in nearly 200 appearances. His performances this season have been no different and his five league goals lead the club’s scoring charts. Cahill is the man Everton look for when inspiration is needed and most recently the midfielder was described by Everton legend Graeme Sharp as the “club’s best player in recent times.”
Arsenal – Marouane Chamakh: When Arsenal signed Marouane Chamakh from Bordeaux last season they were looking for a centre forward who would put the finishing touches to their attractive build-up play. Thus far the French-born Moroccan has lived up to expectations and has begun the season in fine fashion with eight goals in all competitions, five of them in the Premier League. In the absence of the injured Robin van Persie, Chamakh has been truly exceptional and is in perhaps the form of his career at the moment. Scorer of a brace against Wolves on Wednesday, the Moroccan will be looking for more at Goodison Park.
Match prediction
Arsenal strolled into Goodison Park last season and came away with a resounding 6-1 victory, but it is probably safe to say that won’t happen again here. Everton are in the midst of a seven-match unbeaten run and are going from strength to strength as the campaign really gets going. However, Arsenal have shown good away form this season, in stark contrast to their performances and results at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners will want the three points to keep within striking distance of Chelsea in the title race and they could be favourites to muster a narrow win. That said, Everton can do enough to hold Arsenal to a draw. Everton 1-1 Arsenal.
