Everton vs Arsenal

March 20, 2012
By: John Hansen

Everton aim to make amends for the disappointing defeat in the Merseyside derby, but David Moyes’ men will have to play a perfect game if they are to beat high-flying Arsenal. The Gunners are currently on a four-match winning run and they are showing no signs of slowing down.

Missed chance against Sunderland

Everton have successfully turned this season around after the somewhat dodgy start and even if it is too late for the Toffees to enter the race for European places, they still have something to play for. David Moyes’ side are eager to finish the season on a high so that they could build on that result in the following league campaign and a top table finish is something everybody at the club would be satisfied with. The Toffees are still in the race for the FA Cup trophy, but they missed a great chance to qualify for the semi-finals, having shared spoils with Sunderland at their Goodison Park. Everton started the game slowly, but kept improving as the game unfolded and they were unfortunate not to have beaten the Black Cats. David Moyes can, nonetheless, be satisfied with how his side responded to the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool and they can definitely build on that performance when they take on Arsenal. Before the Sunderland game, Everton had won five straight matches at Goodison Park and there are no doubts the Toffees will give their best to beat Arsenal as well and further improve their league position.

David Moyes could make several changes to the starting line-up, with Jagielka, Heitinga and Starcqualursi likely to start. Darron Gibson continues to struggle with a knee injury.

Arsenal rewarded for their efforts

Arsenal’s season looked to be going down the drain following the disappointing defeats to Milan and Sunderland, but just when everyone expected the Gunners to give up and surrender, they rose from the ashes to record four impressive victories in next four games. What is really impressive is that Arsene Wenger’s side showed a lot of character in every one of those games, having come from behind to beat Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle, while coming really close to overturning a four-goal deficit against Milan. The Gunners may have scored the winner against Newcastle deep into the injury time, but they had deserved to secure the victory much earlier, having completely outclassed their opponents. With five straight Premier League victories, Arsenal returned to the fourth place in the standings and with their top 4 rivals Chelsea facing a difficult game against Manchester City, the Gunners can virtually secure Champions League qualification with a victory at Goodison.

Abou Diaby and Francis Coquelin are still some time away from making their return into action, whereas Jack Wilshire, Emmanuel Frimpong and Per Mertesacker are long-term casualties.

Verdict

It appears that Everton can no longer cope with the hectic schedule and David Moyes is, therefore, expected to leave several starters on the bench. Arsenal, on the other hand, have been absolutely brilliant of late and I believe they have what it takes to record the sixth straight Premier League victory.

Our prediction: Arsenal Draw no bet

Odds: 1.67 (2/3)

Bookmaker: Sportingbet

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