On Saturday, at 12:30 pm, Everton receives the visit of Arsenal in the first match of the 18th round of the Premier League. Both teams are facing batch problems and they are far from the goal set at the beginning of the season.
Hosts cannot count on Digne, Gbamin, Gomes, Martina, Schneiderlin, Walcott, Delph and Sidibe. Arsenal are absent from Ceballos, Holding, Tierney, Xhaka, Bellerin and Kolasinac. The performance of the two bands could be affected by the current batch problems. From the experience of the last years, we know that Everton and Arsenal favor corner bets, as both play in offensive style and often open the attacking flanks.
Arsenal are 10th (goals 24-27) and have hopes of a comeback under Freddy Ljungberg, the interim coach of the Londoners. Everton no longer has the manager with whom the season started, being now 16th (goal 20-29), being led by interim Duncan Ferguson in the last games. But on the white-blue bench will now be the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, who seems to have accepted the challenge at Goodison Park.
In the last two stages, Everton won with Chelsea (3-1) and drew with Manchester United (1-1), achieving excellent results, which will increase the morale of the “caramel”. In the middle of the week, Everton played a tough game with Leicester in the League Cup. Arsenal comes after a catastrophic 0-3 with Manchester City completing the “picture” of mediocre scores lately. Only one victory have the “tuners” in the last 12 official matches! Everton won the last straight home match, 1-0, after losing the previous four games with Arsenal.
It will be an interesting match for Alex Iwobi, who moved this summer from Arsenal to Everton, while Walcott will be missing from the duel with his former team, being injured. The “GG” bet has been a winner in 4 of the last 6 direct matches and could be a profitable option once again, in a match in which neither team can be satisfied with the draw.
EVERTON PROBABLE TEAMS – ARSENAL
Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Mina, Baines; Bernard, Holgate, Davies, Iwobi; Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin
Arsenal: Leno; Chambers, Mustafi, Luiz, Maitland-Niles; Torreira, Guendouzi, Xhaka; Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,46
