Arsenal will travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton in the Premier League on Saturday, having put an end to their losing streak on Wednesday.
The Gunners achieved a point against Southampton FC, and will now looking to do better and get two more points than last time. It will not be easy given that the blue Merseyside club are in great form and currently sit fifth in the table.
Arsenal at Everton FYIs
Everton Team News: go here
Kickoff: 5:30 pm GMT, Sat Dec 19, Goodison Park
TV/Streaming: NBC, NBCSports.com
Odds: Everton win +130, Arsenal win +200, Draw +240
Table Position: Everton 5th, Arsenal 15th
There are a few suspension issues that manager Mikel Arteta has to deal with, as both Granit Xhaka and Gabriel missing out. Hector Bellerin will be back after missing the midweek game. Thomas Partey will still remain on the sidelines as the midfielder has not yet recovered from his injury.
The North Londoners will line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that Mikel Arteta has preferred in recent games. Bernd Leno will continue his place in goal with Bellerin coming back to partner Kieran Tierney at full back.
The suspension of Gabriel means that David Luiz will slot in for him alongside Rob Holding. The Brazilianโs passing will be required to break through the Everton defence.
Due to a combination of injury and suspension, the central midfield duo picks itself. Mohamed Elneny and Dani Ceballos will once again be tasked with marshalling the midfield. They were good against Southampton and will have to be equally good, or better, on Saturday.
It was good to see the Emirates club finally get a goal from open play on Wednesday and the attacking trio will look to provide similar service against Everton. Alexander Lacazette will come back in place of Eddie Nketiah. On the two sides of him will be Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka. These three will have to come up with creative ways to feed the striker. If they can do that, the visitors will stand a real chance of winning.
Another bit of good news for Arsenal was that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got back to his scoring ways this week. This is extremely crucial for the team going forward.
He is always a dangerous player and when given the right service, can score freely. The trio behind him will have to keep adequately supplying him and Arteta will be hoping that this will be enough to secure the three points.
Predicted Arsenal Starting XI Against Everton (4-2-3-1):
Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney, Mohamed Elneny, Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
