Arsenal have put some good form together with three wins in their last four matches in all competitions. Manchester City’s Champions League ban has given Arsenal a glimmer of hope at getting into the Champions League next season. They still find themselves six points out of fifth place, but they at least have a chance, even if it’s not a good one. They’ll need to be flawless from here on out, so they need three points from this match.
Everton are in a similar spot to Arsenal, but in better form and with two more points. They have 11 points from their last five league matches, moving them up to ninth in the table. They have one Premier League loss since Carlo Ancelotti took over as manager. They’ll be looking at this match as a shot to grab the initiative in the race for fifth.
Team News
Arsenal have a few injuries that will affect their squad. Calum Chambers, Kieran Tierney, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Cedric Soares have all been rules out, while Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira and Pablo Mari will have late fitness tests, according to PremierInjuries.com.
Everton are looking a bit better fitness wise. They’ll be without Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Theo Walcott will face a late fitness tests, according to Premier Injuries.
Key Players
Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Aubameyang scored the opening goal in Arsenal’s 4-0 win against Newcastle. He broke the deadlock after 54 minutes of struggle, opening up the game for the Gunners to go on and score three more. Aubameyang has been the one consistent star for Arsenal this season. They’ll need him to continue at that level for them to have a chance at fifth place.
Everton: Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Calvert-Lewin has scored or assisted in four goals in his last four matches, an impressive rate for a striker once criticized for not scoring enough. He has been doing so with solid shot volume as well, averaging 3.8 shots per game in his last five matches. It’s a small sample size, but if Calvert-Lewin can consistently put up these numbers he will be a big part of Everton’s future going forward.
Prediction
These two teams are closely matched, so the home team has a slight edge going into this.
Prediction: 2-1 Arsenal
