Can the Toffees upset high-flying Gunners’ title charge?

Arsenal travel to Merseyside to take on Everton in the Premier League at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday night.

The Toffees snapped their four-game unbeaten run in the Premier League after they suffered a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea last time out.

The Gunners left it late to see off winless Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 last weekend.

Match preview

Everton are winless in their last five Premier League games against Arsenal (D2 L3), having won four of their five against them before this (L1).

Under Arsène Wenger (between October 1996 and May 2018), Arsenal won more Premier League away games against Everton than they did against any other side (11). Since the Frenchman’s departure, they’ve won just one of their seven visits to the Toffees (D2 L4).

Both Premier League meetings between Everton and Arsenal last season ended level. They last drew three in a row between November 2012 and December 2013, with current boss Mikel Arteta playing 90 minutes in all three of those games for the Gunners.

Victory for Arsenal will see them top of the table at Christmas for the third time in the last four seasons, having done so just twice in the first 30 Premier League campaigns. However, the Gunners have gone on to finish either 2nd (2002/03, 2022/23, 2023/24) or 3rd (2007/08) on each of those previous four occasions.

Everton have lost all five of their Premier League games against teams competing in the UEFA Champions League this season, accounting for 83% of their defeats this term (5/6), including both of their home losses (0-3 vs Tottenham, 1-4 vs Newcastle).

The Gunners have conceded the first goal in five of their last seven Premier League away games, including each of the last three in a row.

Leandro Trossard has scored both of Arsenal’s away goals against Everton in the last two Premier League seasons. The last Gunners player to score in three consecutive visits to the Toffees was Ian Wright between August 1995 and September 1997.

Dwight McNeil could make his 100th Premier League appearance for Everton in this match; he would be the fifth youngest player (26y 28d) to reach 100 for two different clubs (also 134 for Burnley).

Team news

Everton

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was forced off with a hamstring problem, which rules him out of this game.

Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye are unavailable for selection due to their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.

Jarrad Branthwaite and Seamus Coleman are unavailable due to injuries.

Arsenal

Ben White came off with a hamstring issue in Wolves’ win and is expected to be out for at least a month.

Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Max Dowman are sidelined with injuries. Riccardo Calafiori is back from a one-match ban.

Predicted line-ups

Everton: Jordan Pickford, Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, Vitalii Mykolenko, Tim Iroegbunam, James Garner, Jack Grealish, Charly Alcaraz, Dwight McNeil, Thierno Barry.

Arsenal: David Raya, Jurriën Timber, William Saliba, Piero Hincapié, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martín Zubimendi, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyökeres.