Everton to be gunned down again

Arsenal made hard work of their Europa League opener at times but eventually prevailed. They host Marco Silva’s Everton, who need to respond in positive fashion having been soundly beaten at home to West Ham last weekend.

Arsenal

After starting his career at the Emirates with two defeats, Unai Emery has presided over four consecutive wins, the latest a 4-2 success over Ukrainian minnows Vorskia in the Europa League. However, the gloss would’ve been taken off the victory slightly with the two late goals conceded having initially been four up. As much as The Gunners can be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas at a time the match had been won, their inability to keep a clean sheet will be a concern for Emery.

Still clearly lacking a defensive backbone

Zero shutouts so far is a fair reflection of how they’ve defended though. Fans would’ve expected to concede chances to first Man City and then Chelsea, but Arsenal were torn apart at times by West Ham and managed to concede two to a Cardiff team who hadn’t scored in their first three fixtures. They couldn’t even see out a routine victory at Newcastle without leaking a soft goal in the last minute. It’s the same old problem for Arsenal who are still clearly lacking a defensive backbone, despite a host of summer signings aimed at solving the long time issue.

No such problems in attack though; Arsenal have hit 10 across their five league games and perhaps should have had more - misses such as those Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan were guilty of against Chelsea spring to mind. On the whole though, Arsenal have oozed fluidity in forward areas and are likely to assert themselves on Everton from the get-go with Aubameyang in particular looking sharp and eager to add to the 3 goals he has already.

Last 3 meetings in this fixture:

2017/18: Arsenal 5-1 Everton

2016/17: Arsenal 3-1 Everton

2015/16: Arsenal 2-1 Everton

Everton

The Toffeemen are enjoying the first sticky spell of the Marco Silva era. Win-less in three, his case hasn’t been helped by the crippling injury list which looks set to deny the Portuguese a large chunk of his preferred backline once again. Not to mention the three-match ban for record signing Richarlison who had scored three in three prior to his suspension and looked worth every penny of the £50 million Everton shelled out for him.

It was the combination of both factors which led, West Ham, without a single point, to cash in on a sorry showing from Everton for their first win last weekend. Anywhere close to a repeat of that performance could see Arsenal match or, even better the 5-1 scoreline they posted against The Blues in the corresponding fixture last season.

Noticeably vulnerable in defence

They are likely to be boosted by the return of that man Richarlison; he is available again after serving his three game ban. Meanwhile, Yerry Mina is back in training and could also start.

However, like their hosts, the visitors have had issues conceding goals - nine in five games - and are noticeably vulnerable in defence under the smallest amount of pressure. They face an uphill task in trying to keep a first clean sheet of the campaign against Arsenal, a side they conceded a total of ten against last season.

Match Tip

I fancy Arsenal to come out on top in this one, as they so often do in this fixture: they’ve beaten Everton 20 times out of a possible 26 on home turf in the Premier League era.

Yet, I'm not expecting Arsenal to buck their trend of conceding, especially with a refreshed Richarlison ready to return and Theo Walcott intent on proving himself against his old club.

Hence, I’m going for a home win with both teams scoring – Coral are currently offering the best odds of this happening at 13/8 (2.65).

Bet Arsenal to win & BTTS on Coral