The Premier League throws up an eye-catching encounter when Arsenal faces Everton for the first time in the 2024/25 Premier League season.
Title hopefuls Arsenal take on relegation-battling Everton, as the Gunners find themselves in the top four only by goal difference while their visitors are above the drop zone by a mere three points. The result here would be critical to both teams’ hopes of rising higher during the festive fixtures.
In their most recent encounter, Kai Havertz’s 89th-minute strike ensured a 2-1 win to end the 2023/24 campaign behind Manchester City who lifted the title for the fourth consecutive season.
Arsenal have won each of their last three games against the Evertonians and will be keen to continue that record.
The North Londoners will be desperate to go all the way in their third consecutive title race and they have been tipped to push Pep Guardiola’s side this term.
However, the season so far has blown hot and cold with a ten-match unbeaten start ended by a 2-0 loss at Bournemouth. Arsenal were winless in their next three Premier League matches against Liverpool, Newcastle, and Chelsea and they must quickly regain their rhythm to avoid falling further behind domestic rivals.
Indeed, this marked the first time Arsenal have gone four games without a top-flight win since April 2023 and they now find themselves nine points behind the top of the table. Last season proved that they can eventually catch up with their title rivals, but they must quickly improve on the recent run of just one win in their last five games in all competitions.
Sean Dyche’s side is also desperate for points, but for different reasons as they are hoping to beat the drop one more time.
The Toffees avoided relegation last season despite two separate points deductions for breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules. Indeed, the task remains the same this term as they have made a less-than-ideal start to the season.
There were four consecutive defeats before they finally secured their first point in a 1-1 draw at Leicester City. Dwight McNeil’s brace helped them to their first victory of the campaign against Crystal Palace, as they went unbeaten in the next three matches.
That run was ended by bottom-of-the-table Southampton who grabbed a late win to heap the pressure on Everton, and they drew fellow strugglers West Ham United. Neither side failed to find the back of the net in that 0-0 draw, to the frustration of the Everton fans who are now growing impatient.
Everton are sitting 16th on the league table with just two wins and ten points to their name thus far. Their 10 goals scored is the third-lowest in the division, and they have scored two goals in a game only twice all season.
Amidst some uninspiring football at times, they must find a way to score with regularity as the pressure mounts on Dyche following their difficult start to the season. The 53-year-old is not expected to be sacked in the immediate future, with top-flight survival being Everton’s main target for this season.
Ahead of the move to a new stadium at the end of the campaign, their relegation chances have to get significantly worse before they can consider sacking the former Burnley boss.
Dyche’s track record of keeping his sides in the Premier League counts in his favour as they look to maintain their status amid the ongoing Friedkin takeover.
Hence, the blues will be bringing all their survival instincts into play and they will be hoping to earn a huge result.
Match tickets
This Premier League Matchday 16 fixture takes place on Saturday, 14 December 2024 with kick-off scheduled for 3 PM UK time, it promises to be an action-packed occasion of top-quality football. Match tickets are available for sale on the website of each club, with priority access given to club members and season ticket holders.
The Emirates Stadium will be fired up for this encounter with the title hopefuls welcoming a relegation-threatened side lacking confidence during the festive season. Although this has the potential to be a banana skin, expect the sold-out crowd to passionately support their side to victory.
Travelling fans may have a hard time reserving tickets for this game so we urge them to find their Arsenal vs Everton tickets on a resale site, while interested match-goers will also find more Arsenal tickets for the whole season.
Team news
The likes of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are currently injured, but none of them are thought to be long-term absences for Arsenal.
Seamus Coleman, Youssef Chermiti, Tim Iroegbunam, James Garner, Armando Broja and Dwight McNeil are the names currently on the Everton treatment table. Dyche will be glad to have them all fit and available for this trip to London.
Line-ups
Gabriel and William Saliba are the foundation for Arsenal’s impeccable solidity and they will now look to regain some consistency after injuries and suspensions caused them to chop and change their backline. Thomas Partey has also had to fill in at right back amidst a turnaround of options in the left back position.
Overall, Arsenal also struggled for creativity without Martin Odegaard, who has created the most chances in the Premier League despite missing a lot of games. His availability would be the key to unlocking Everton’s sturdy defence and Arteta is not expected to make too many changes to his team.
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Dyche has a team of trusted lieutenants, with the only few changes likely to be either Michael Kean or Jarrad Branthwaite as captain James Tarkowski’s centre-back partner, and Jesper Lindstrom or Jack Harrison on the right wing.
Everton: Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Gueye, Doucoure; Harrison, McNeil, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin
Prediction
While Everton will be dreaming of a positive result that will dent Arsenal’s delicate title hopes, the Gunners are clear favourites at home where their form has been impeccable. The visitors will have to work hard for any positive result, but it may not be enough against an effective unit that has a lot to lose.
Arsenal must pick up maximum points from this game to harbour any hopes of remaining in the title race, and so they will.
Arsenal 3-0 Everton