Everton Vs Arsenal

Everton Vs Arsenal
Saturday 23rd August
17:30 BST Kick Off
Goodison Park
Referee: M.Oliver


An Unconvincing Start

The season has started and Arsenal have already played two matches, and hence the debates are in full motion about nearly everything. From the lack of a better striker than Giroud to the concerns on a lightweight midfield. It's all happening atm and will carry on till we either get those things sorted or till we live with it once September comes and we sign no one. But let's not go into that. The current problem is the lack of balance and chemistry in the team as you may have read things here n there or noticed yourself. We are struggling to adjust to the new season with the new players and a new system as well albeit tweaked slightly. The world cup didn't help either. We have a midfield which isn't clicking at all without a 10 at spearhead and our attack is a bit lethargic with an unfit Giroud. We survived against Besiktas because of our Defence which surprisingly has clicked pretty well despite Mertesacker being out and Koscielny being unfit adding to the inexperienced Chambers. but let's not jinx it.

In any case, I don't think we will see the best of Arsenal till at least a month. It is a worry in that sense because we could possibly drop as many as 9 points along the way till we finally reach the level we want to be at. I don't know who is to be blamed for this. I guess Arsene is slightly at fault for it, but the majority comes to the factors which were not in our control as mentioned previously. Let's hope we can make it to another month without injuries and dropping points

Everton

Everton are slow starters. They drew their first match against newly promoted Leicester and had a pretty average pre season before. They bought Lukaku on a permanent deal while also getting the WC starlet Besic who was decent against Argentina and other matches. I am not sure what to expect from Everton though. It IS their first home match of the season so I am not really expecting Arsenal to go out and trash them. We are not at that level yet. Not to mention we do struggle against Martinez's team a bit. They haven't exactly clicked either but if they do bring their pressing game. We can suffer without Arteta's intelligence in midfield and Gibbs' defensive abilities at LB. We lost 3-0 last time so I am expecting some sort of revenge. However, let's be grateful for a good performance and any points. Hopefully 3.

Team News

For Arsenal, The German trio are back but not sure how fit so we might see one out of 3 starting. Maybe Mertesacker. Arteta out for 3 weeks while Gibbs and Sanogo are out from before. Nothing else to report.

For Everton, Gibson and Coleman should be fit against Arsenal. Barkley, Oviedo and Kone are all out.

Predicted Arsenal Team

----------------------------Szczesny------------------------------

Debuchy-----------Mertesacker---------Koscielny------------Monreal

---------------------------------Flamini----------------------------

Wilshere------------Ramsey----------------Ozil-----------------Sanchez

---------------------------------Giroud---------------------------------

Predicted Everton Team

---------------------------------Howard----------------------------------

Coleman-----------------Jagielka-----------Distin-------------Baines

-----------------------------------Barry---------------------------------

-------------------McCarthy------------------Pienaar--------------------

Mirallas--------------------------Lukaku---------------------------McGeady


Match Facts (FourFourTwo)

• Everton's victory against Arsenal in April ended a run of 13 without one against the Gunners in the Barclays Premier League.
  
• Arsenal are the only away team to score six goals in a Premier League game at Goodison Park (in August 2009).
  
• Steven Naismith has scored four and assisted two in his last nine Premier League appearances.
  
• Arsenal have now gone four games without a win against Everton, their worst such run in the Premier League.
  
• The Gunners have never gone five league games without beating the Toffees in their history.
  
• Arsenal have not won their opening two league games since 2009 (which included a win against Everton).
  
• Last season Everton opened the season with two draws; they drew their opener last week at Leicester.
  
• Everton have scored at least two goals in each of their last six Premier League home games.
  
• But two of the Toffees' last three Premier League home games have seen them lose 3-2.
  
• Arsenal won more away games than any other Premier League team in 2013-14 (11), yet ended the season with a goal difference of only +2 on the road.
  

Final Words

good old 1-0 to the Arsenal please

Good work RG.

Really need all the 3 German stars this game at least on the bench.

The line up looks good but I have a funny feeling we will play good part second half with 10men. Flamini cant help himself, after first yellow, Wenger must replace him.

I think Wenger will experiment the Wilshere-Rambo double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 personally. And I'd approve.

Bench: Martinez; Mertesacker, Bellerin; Diaby, Özil; Cazorla, Giroud;

This would be my team for Everton, lacks goalscorers but it's probably better than that shit show we saw against Besiktas and Crystal Palace. I doubt Wenger will do so many changes though. I bet Giroud/Cazorla will manage to get in the first XI again.

Honestly I'm not expecting a win, a draw would be a decent result or rather not getting smashed. Would bring Özil later on, he could probably change the game for us if it's not going our way and it's not too late.

I doubt we are going to see much changes in the team. So I don't see Campbell starting or Alexis playing upfront.

I can say what I want and which team I want to see play now, but that wouldn't matter because it's all in Wenger's hand. It's no mystery that we've played a bit poorly in the first two matches of the season and something of a change in tempo and initiative in our game needs to be implemented to get a win at Goodison Park. And I think that that's down to Wenger to change something personnel wise or tactically.
So Wenger ... Pls oblige.

............Szczesny...........
Debuchy Mert Kos Monreal
............Chambers...........
.........Ramsey Ozil............
Ox.........Giroud.......Alexis

Would prefer this lineup. Given that the Germans are fit.

Great work RG
watched their game vs Leicester
Leicester defended deep and allowed them time on the ball in 1st half and everton obviously with strong bias toward their left created some neat combinations

2nd half Leicester pushed higher and started to pressure, everton struggled to build up play

they also looked vulnerable vs early crosses and nervy at defending set pieces
Lukaku looked rusty and tired quite early

Naismith played in the hole and he isnt as good a Barkely on the ball to drive forward but he makes good runs to danger zones and is good at Drawing fouls so important we dont concede fouls in red zone

will i trust Flamini in that role?meh thats what we have got
at least no vermaelen to be targeted this time

massive test for Debuchy-Sanchez vs Baines-Pienaar

can jack play 3 games in a week and perform??
need someone to pressure Barry

John Stones played RB and his positioning looked suspect he could allow runs inside him in space between him and Jagielka but i guess Coleman will start and we Need Chambo up vs him

wish we take the lead and close the game down
but they arent exactly sharpest and best shape which gives me hope

Will be a tough match, and a bad result for us wouldn't surprise me. Cue meltdown of epic proportions.

Chambers in for the DM role. Can this be done?

El Gunner wrote:I doubt we are going to see much changes in the team.

I agree, Wenger will keep playing the same team until players start to get injured. 

Wenger is the most stubborn man in football.  

who has seen chambers play DM?
Risky to start in this game

anyway if Sanogo is fit i would start him
he would stretch defence better and give them more trouble
Sanogo offers depth ,he can run in behind and work the channles better

with Giroud defences would just push him away from goal and close him down ,cant dribble or work to ball out in tight space ,cant run in behind
results in mad pressure from opposition

no wonder our FA cup battle vs everton was by far our best performance vs them!!

Nice work RG.

After watching Wenger's press conference on Arsenal Player, I think we'll see Chamberlain start this game. He hinted quite a bit. Think Rosicky will get a start too.

Wenger said all 3 Germans wouldn't start, I think all 3 will be on bench.

If we get the first goal, we can win this, but it will be tough, of course, as it always is at Goodison. I don't think a draw would be a bad result, and the Besiktas game is a lot more important.

One thing is for sure, we need to improve our level of performance.

The big plus for us is the absence of Ross Barkley. In every game he's played against us, he's given our midfield tons of problems with his pace and strength. Naismith, Pienaar and McGeady don't quite carry the same level of threat.

Martinez does know how to get the better of us and no doubt he'll try to deploy a similar approach to the one they used in the 3-0 last season. The thing to look out for is if Naismith plays down the middle and Lukaku from the right again, where he would be reunited with Monreal who really struggled in that match.

Their fullbacks really worry me. Given the lack of understanding between Debuchy and Alexis, contrast with the great understanding between Baines and Pienaar, I feel we're going to be vulnerable down that side. On the other side, Cazorla against Coleman is a mismatch. This is Everton's largest threat and I feel we aren't in the best position to be dealing with it. The vast majority of their attacks came down their left against Leicester.

I don't think we can perform like we did against Palace and Besiktas and expect to come away with a positive result, either. However the team lines up, it's going to need to find a way of improving. A draw wouldn't be a bad result at this stage of the season.

As far as the team goes, it's too big a game too soon to be reintroducing the Germans straight away, as tempting as it would be to use Mertesacker and Ozil. I'd like to see Chamberlain start the game, perhaps in place of Giroud, with Alexis playing down the middle. Alexis is already a great outlet for us so we don't want him deep in his own half tracking the runs of Baines all game.

Monreal won't do as bad as he did last time. he is in much better form. Played very well against Besiktas and palace when he came on.

Also Wenger will know about the Lukaku trick so i am sure he will have something in mind. Arsene said today how poor physically we were that day and it was just an off day overall. I agree with him because there is no way Everton would put 3 past us in other circumstances.

Agreed about their fullbacks bit. Sanchez and Oxlade starting could help with that since neither baines nor Coleman would go up everytime with the risk of being outpaced. Let's see how it goes.

RealGunner wrote:
Also Wenger will know about the Lukaku trick so i am sure he will have something in mind. Arsene said today how poor physically we were that day and it was just an off day overall. I agree with him because there is no way Everton would put 3 past us in other circumstances.

If Wenger plays the same lineup as mid-week, it will be another of many off days for Wenger. Its funny "Wenger said just an off day" we got crushed by every top team away from home.

Joel Campbell needs to be given a chance. Giroud stops more arsenal attacks than any defender, I dont know why we looking for a CB, when we could play him as CB.

how about wenger outacticing martinez and play sanchez as flase 9?  

RedMamba wrote:how about wenger outacticing martinez and play sanchez as flase 9?  

Wouldn't that be a sight!


Anyway, Wenger's tactical masterclass comes one game per season. He's predictable for the other 40-50 games.

Podolski not in squad and left behind.

I'd find it hard to believe wenger wants to get rid of him unless were lining someone big up.

Could just be fitness.

Could be that we have better options than him on the bench.

Joel is in better shape so yea most likely.

podolski isnt close to being the best player on the team but at least he creates width. arsenal have the same problem as last year; no penetrating wingers. the play is so narrow it hurts to watch