Arsenal V Everton Betting

Arsenal V Everton

Date & Kick-Off: Saturday, 10 December 2011 – 15:00 GMT

Venue: Emirates Stadium

Preview

Like all good teams do, Arsenal responded in spectacular fashion to dropping crucial points by thrashing a sorry Wigan 4-0 at the DW Stadium last week. That emphatic victory came a week after they were held to a bitterly disappointing 1-1 draw by Fulham at the Emirates. So you can’t help but feel for their opponents this weekend, an Everton side whose record against the Gunners is very dispiriting in itself.

No win in their last eight top flight encounters with Arsenal, losing six, we think it is fair to say Everton plainly have it all to do on Saturday. They’ve not been victorious away to the Gunners for 15 years! Runs are there to be broken, however, as Fulham did at the end of November, when ending Arsenal’s five-match winning sequence at the Emirates in the league. Whether Everton, a side who have already slumped to defeats against Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd, can pull off something similar really does remain to be seen.

Arsenal

League Position: 5th

League Form: WWWDW

Now that the group phase of the UEFA Champions League has concluded, with the Gunners assured of a place in the last-16 as group winners, Arsenal can focus all their energy and commitment on the domestic front and continuing their resurgence.

Last week’s 4-0 whitewash of Wigan at the DW was their sixth win in a seven-match unbeaten spell that has helped them rocket up the table into fifth, to within just two points of the Champions League spots. A few more like that and it won’t be long before they are named potential title protagonists. If that is to be the case, slip-ups, like the one which occurred on 27 November at home to Fulham, need to be few and far between.

Arsene Wenger made wholesale changes for Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Olympiakos in Greece, so expect a completely different side to the one which slumped to a 3-1 loss to tackle Everton at the Emirates. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, defender Thomas Vermealen – the Belgian who has netted in three of Arsenal’s last four Premier League matches, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, Gervinho and Robin Van Persie were among those who didn’t feature and should return to the starting XI.

One player who is definitely out is left-back Andre Santos. Now that does leave Wenger with a problem, as full-backs Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna are both out injured while young Carl Jenkinson is doubtful. The Brazilian injured his ankle in Greece and is likely to miss all of Arsenal’s festive fixtures. Abou Diaby, who made his first competitive appearance of the season at Wigan last weekend as a second half sub, is also out.

Everton

League Position: 10th

League Form: LLWWL

The Toffees were shaping as though they could potentially inflict some telling damage in this fixture, after ending the month of November with successive victories over Bolton and Wolves. Then along came Stoke, who produced an industrious display at Goodison Park to consign Everton to their third defeat in four at home. Now we’re left scratching our heads as to how competitive they can really be in a fixture which has bore next to no fruit for some fifteen years.

To register two miserly points from their previous fifteen trips to Arsenal in the league just about says all you need to know. This is an horrific fixture for Everton, who have also fared woefully against the sides directly above them in the league. Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd, heck even Newcastle, have gotten the better of David Moyes’ side this season. It would be a genuine shock if Arsenal weren’t added to this growing list.

Everton’s away record stands at a mixed W3 D0 L3, though that in itself tells us a lot. Their three wins all came against sides situated in the lower reaches of the league in Blackburn (18th), Bolton (19th) and Fulham (13th), while their defeats were all routine-like at Chelsea (4th), Man City (1st) and Newcastle (6th).

Neither Sylvan Distin nor Royston Drenthe were deemed fit enough to make the bench against Stoke, so doubts remain over their possible participation at the Emirates. Distin has been back in training for a little while now and should return, meanwhile Drenthe, who scored on his last visit to London, in Everton’s 3-1 victory over Fulham, is struggling with an ankle problem.

Match Pointers

- Arsenal won home and away versus Everton last season and are unbeaten in eight Premier League meetings with the Toffees (W6 D2), who last won away from home against the Gunners in 1996.

- Each of the previous six league encounters have featured both teams scoring.

- The Gunners have won five and lost none of their last six Premier League matches at the Emirates Stadium, though they were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham last time out there.

- Arsenal have won six of their last seven in the league, with their most recent being a 4-0 whitewash of Wigan at the DW Stadium.

- Central defender Thomas Vermealen has three in his last four Premier League starts for Arsenal, netting in each of his last two turn outs at home.

- Everton have a mixed away record; winning three, drawing none, and losing three.

- The Toffees have failed to score on five occasions this season, and some of those include defeats at home to Liverpool and Man City as well as their loss at Man City.

Betting

Arsene Wenger could afford the luxury of naming a weakened side for Tuesday’s Champions League game with Olympiakos, which was effectively a dead rubber for them seeing as they were assured of top spot in the group before the match kicked off. A young Arsenal team were comprehensively beaten on the night, losing 3-1 out in Greece, but virtually the entire team-sheet for Saturday’s home game with Everton will be comprised of players who didn’t feature in midweek.

A revitalised, refreshed Arsenal should wipe the floor with Everton, who couldn’t conjure a single shot on target at home to Stoke last week, with Robin Van Persie, the inspired Dutchman who has so often played a leading role in dismantling the Toffees in recent Premier League encounters, at the forefront of their success – again!

Prediction: Arsenal to WIN – 4/7 PaddyPower

Value Bet: Robin Van Persie First Goalscorer – 7/2 WilliamHill

Match Odds

Arsenal – 4/7 PaddyPower

Draw – 16/5 VictorChandler

Everton – 6/1 Ladbrokes

Arsenal V Everton

Tuesday, 1st February – 19:45 (GMT)
Venue: Emirates Stadium

Arsenal

Barely 48 hours after dumping Huddersfield Town out of the FA Cup, Arsenal will prepare for their third game in less than a week when they entertain an Everton side who caused them plenty of problems in the corresponding fixture last term. The Gunners dropped two costly points when the pair played out a thoroughly entertaining 2-2 draw last season and a similar result would be similarly costly for Arsene Wenger and his side’s bid for that elusive Premier League crown, as the club seek to arrest a seven-year drought without England’s top prize.

On the topic of droughts, supporters have gone nearly six years without even winning any silverware, so progress in the FA Cup will have delighted fans in a week which has seen the Gunners make some considerable progress in their bid to stop the rot. Just last week, Arsenal came from behind on aggregate to sail through to the final of the Carling Cup following a 3-1 aggregate victory over Ipswich Town while they left it late once again before extending their run in the world’s oldest domestic knock-out cup competition, the FA Cup. However, the latter wasn’t anywhere as convincing as the former, the Gunners coming from behind, down to ten men as well, before finally sewing up progression courtesy of another late Cesc Fabregas penalty as Arsenal recorded a nervy 2-1 win over Huddersfield Town of League Two.

It wasn’t just the sub-par performance which will have left Arsenal chief Arsene Wenger bemused, the sight of Samir Nasri limping off with a hamstring injury will have had the Frenchman pulling his hair out. Arsenal not only face a difficult encounter with Everton in the league on Tuesday but also a crunch Champions League first leg clash with arguably the in-form team in Europe right now in Barcelona in just over two weeks time. Fortunately, because Wenger made wholesale changes at the weekend, he didn’t collect any more unwanted injuries, though, more importantly, he will also have a fresher set of players at his disposal for Tuesday’s clash – Cesc Fabregas played the last 20 minutes, Alex Song 45, however Jack Wilshere, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie were all rested and bursting at the seam to maintain Arsenal’s imperious run of form which has seen them win their last six matches in all competitions.

Considering Everton fielded their strongest XI at the weekend, Arsenal look an overwhelming bet on paper. Many of their key players didn’t even feature at the weekend, those that did were used sparingly, while the fact Arsenal have gone a little over 15-years without losing to the Toffees in the Premier League just adds to their appeal. It isn’t even as though the Gunners have been struggling in front of goal either, particularly when Wenger names his strongest side – Arsenal having scored exactly 3 goals in four of their last five matches, all four were when the Arsenal boss named his best eleven. Oh, and did we forget to mention that the North Londoners have gone a little over six hours without conceding a goal in the Barclay’s Premier League.

Everton

Despite the club still finding themselves in the midst of a battle for survival, David Moyes was made to look a redundant figure in the January transfer window as Everton failed to bolster their ranks with any winter reinforcements. You would have thought a number of disconcerting factors would have almost forced the club to take drastic action, however Moyes and the club clearly feel that what is left at the Scot’s disposal is good enough to maintain the club’s status as a Premiership club although that isn’t anywhere near good enough for its supporters, who feel the club should be aiming for European qualification at the minimum.

Just five points clear of the dreaded relegation zone, Everton are by no means out of the woods despite losing just one of their last eight games in the league. Even impressive victories over Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur haven’t been able to lift a team which still posses a hefty amount of potential – The Toffees winning just two Premiership fixtures in the last three months. Resilient and courageous may be, clinical and decisive they are most definitely not.

Even though David Moyes’ charges can rarely be relied upon these days to bring home the bacon in the straightforward scenarios – four of Everton’s five wins in the league this season have come against the odds, the one thing you can bank on more times than not is Everton turning up on the big occasion and putting in a shift. Just one of their sixth defeats came against one of the recognised elite clubs of the division, and ironically that team was Arsenal. Their record overall, though, considering where they are in the table, is almost second to none having collected four points from meetings with Liverpool and Tottenham this season, as well as respectable draws with Chelsea and Man Utd. And while they were beaten by the Gunners earlier in the season at Goodison Park, the Toffees will take a lot of heart from their spirited display at the Emirates last season, when Everton went within minutes of a famous 2-1 victory on Arsenal turf only to be denied by a stoppage time equaliser from Tomas Rosicky.

Everton further enhanced their credentials of being a ‘big game’ team by holding the defending FA Cup champions Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Goodison on Saturday. Louis Saha also handed his feeble confidence a welcome boost by scoring Everton’s only goal of the game, although David Moyes will be a disgruntled manager after once again watching his defence failing to keep a clean sheet for the eight match in succession, as a shut-out would have confirmed their place in the last-sixteen. Nevertheless, another hugely impressive results accompanied by a similarly encouraging performance both of which should be the ideal platform for the Toffees as they head down to London aiming to end a barren run of fourteen visits to Arsenal in the league without winning.

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Last 5 Results

Arsenal

FA Cup: Arsenal 2-1 Huddersfield Town
Carling Cup: Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich Town
Premiership: Arsenal 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Premiership: Leeds United 1-3 Arsenal
Premiership: West Ham United 0-3 Arsenal

Everton

FA Cup: Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Premiership: Everton 2-2 West Ham United
Premiership: Liverpool 2-2 Everton
FA Cup: Scunthorpe United 1-5 Everton
Premiership: Everton 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

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2010/2011 Premiership Statistics

Arsenal

League Position: 2nd
Win-Draw-Lose: 14-4-5 (Home: 7-1-3)
Goal Difference: 48-22 (Home: 25-11)
Leading Goalscorer: Samir Nasri (9)
Form: DWDWW (Home: LWWDW)

Everton

League Position: 14th
Win-Draw-Lose: 5-12-6 (Away: 2-7-3)
Goal Difference: 27-29 (Away: 13-14)
Leading Goalscorer: Tim Cahill (9)
Form: DLWDD (Away: DWDLD)

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Head-to-Head (Last 5 Seasons):

2010/2011: Everton 1-2 Arsenal

2009/2010: Arsenal 2-2 Everton
2009/2010: Everton 1-6 Arsenal

2008/2009: Everton 1-1 Arsenal
2008/2009: Arsenal 3-1 Everton

2007/2008: Arsenal 1-0 Everton
2007/2008: Everton 1-4 Arsenal

2006/2007: Everton 1-0 Arsenal
2006/2007: Arsenal 1-1 Everton

2005/2006: Everton 1-0 Arsenal
2005/2006: Arsenal 2-0 Everton

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Pointers

Arsenal

- The Gunners have won each of their last five games in all competitions, scoring exactly 3 goals in four.

- Arsenal haven’t conceded a goal against Premiership opposition since drawing 2-2 with Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on 29th December (378 minutes).

- Only West Brom and Tottenham Hotspur have scored more than one goal at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadiums in all competitions this season.

- Arsenal have gone a little over 15-years without tasting defeat in a Premier League home fixture with Everton, winning 12 of the 14 meetings with the Toffees on home soil.

Everton

- The Toffees are without defeat in their last five games, losing just one of their last ten games in all competitions.

- Everton have won just two of their last thirteen matches in the Premier League, and just one of their last six.

- Have won just two of twelve away matches in the Premier League this season.

- Everton haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last eight matches in all competitions.

- The Merseyside outfit have only failed to score in one of their last nine away games in the league.

- Last beat Arsenal in the Premier League in an away fixture back in 1996, failing to win on any of their previous fourteen trips to either Highbury or Emirates.

- Everton scored twice during their most recent trip to Arsenal, when drawing 2-2 in a league fixture last season, and it was the first time Everton had scored more than one goal at Arsenal since beating the Gunners 15-years ago. 

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Team News

Arsenal – Arsene Wenger received crushing news that his leading goalscorer, Samir Nasri, will miss around three weeks after injuring his hamstring during Sunday’s FA Cup win over Huddersfield Town. Manuel Almunia played his first match of 2011 on Sunday, though the Spaniard is unlikely to start Tuesday’s game with Everton. Bacary Sagna, Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie should all return to the starting XI, however Thomas Vermaelen is still out injured while Sebestian Squillaci is suspended after his red card offence on Sunday.

Everton – David Moyes doesn’t have any fresh injury concerns with striker Victor Anichebe the only doubt. Tim Cahill is still unavailable after narrowly missing out on winning the AFC Asian Cup with Australia.

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Match Prediction: Arsenal to WIN – 1.50 WilliamHill

To their credit, Everton have raised their game considerably in the crunch encounters with the more recognised teams in the Premiership (Everton 3-3 Man Utd; Tottenham 1-1 Everton; Chelsea 1-1; Man City 1-2 Everton; Everton 2-1 Tottenham & Liverpool 2-2 Everton), however, Arsenal are a different kettle of fish as it isn’t as simple as setting your defence up in a rock-solid, resolute manner. The Toffees not only need to work their socks off the reduce the amount of time and space available to the Gunners, they also need to have some composure on the ball and make sure they continue to make chances, and, more importantly, score a few goals. It’s seldom that Arsenal fail to score in their own backyard.

You have to admire Everton’s courage in the big games, however, Arsenal’s superior technical ability coupled with their promising vein of form, Arsene Wenger’s side having won all five of their previous games in all competitions, makes the hosts too strong in my honest opinion. It should be a thoroughly entertaining game nonetheless, however I fully expect this one to go the way of Arsenal, who rested a number of key players at the weekend as opposed to a full strength Everton side who poured everything into their Fourth Round tie with Chelsea only to draw 1-1.

Value Bet: Arsenal to WIN to NIL – 2.40 PaddyPower

The Gunners have had question marks hanging over their defence for some time now although this same defence continues to keep opposing offence at bay. Over seven hours have elapsed since Arsenal last conceded a goal in the Premier League and with Everton still without their top scorer Tim Cahill, and with Steven Pienaar now gone, Mikel Arteta still not back to his former self and Louis Saha still looking a bit behind the pace, perhaps it will be another routine win for Arsene Wenger’s charges, who have only won 6 of their 14 games in which they’ve won in the league this season by keeping a clean sheet.

Match Odds:

Arsenal – 1.50 WilliamHill
Draw – 4.50 Bet365
Everton – 8.50 SkyBet

Arsenal V Everton

Saturday, 9^th January – 15:00 GMT

Arsenal

League Position: 3rd

Recent Form: WDWWW

Arsenal, against their will, were given the week off after their midweek fixture with Stoke City was postponed despite the best efforts of the Arsenal groundsman and volunteers as the bitter cold weather took yet another football victim. Arsenal’s next encounter will now be this fixture with Everton. A team they thumped 6-1 on the opening day of the season, but will they come to close to emulating that success without some key influential figureheads in their match day squad?

We all know about Van Persie’s lengthy lay-off with injury but Arsene Wenger might also be without two of his most creative outlets in Cesc Fabregas & Theo Walcott, while Thomas Rosicky is hit and miss. With Arsenal playing catch up with those at the very top, these injuries could play havoc with their chances of ending the season as champions as dropped points right at the start of the new year could send the Gunners on a downward spiral.

The Emirates, though, should be a welcome retreat for Arsene Wenger and his youthful, yet technically gifted, squad as they’ve suffered just the solitary defeat their all season. Only the powerful Chelsea have beaten Arsenal at home this season, whilst their other remaining eight fixtures have all gone in their favour, with Arsenal winning eight out of nine at home thus far. What’s more, Arsenal have struck up not only a three match winning streak at home but also one which consists of three successive clean sheets. Stoke City, Aston Villa & Hull City have all failed to locate the Arsenal goal since the Gunners last home defeat but Everton could provide them with a much sterner test on Saturday.

Arsenal left it late to book their place in the next round of the FA Cup when Arsene Wenger left it to the kids to do the hard work, in which they did struggle for the best part of 75 minutes before Aaron Ramsey & Eduardo struck to hand Arsenal victory. Arsenal were, though, well below their usual, free-flowing best, with their midfield looking very lacklustre and weak in parts. Against the Hammers, Arsenal’s midfield, which did consists of a handful of youth products, did look lightweight and was unable to repel the oncoming West Ham attacks. This was, and will be, a big concern for Wenger but were lucky that West Ham were extremely poor in the final third, but, however, Everton might not be as generous at The Emirates as the Toffee’s seek out revenge for their opening day humbling by the Gunners.

Everton

League Position: 12th

Recent Form: DDDDW

David Moyes will have had nightmares over the reverse meeting between the two sides. No one, especially the manager and players alike, will forget the 6-1 mauling they endured at home to Arsenal on the opening day of the season as that huge defeat was not only their worst for many a season but also one that has sent Everton to their demise this season, with David Moyes’ Everton floundering in 12^th position, just four points off the relegation zone. However, this fixture provides them with the opportunity to make amends for their shambolic display in the reverse fixture by putting in a big shift at The Emirates.

Everton scraped through their FA Cup tie, one of the easiest looking ones on paper, at home to Carlisle by the skin of their teeth, winning 3-1 via two late strikes from Tim Cahill, a player who has massively underperformed this season, and a 90^th minute penalty from Baines. The result was crucial, though, as Everton will have high hopes of reaching their second successive FA Cup final but their performances on the pitch of late have still been well below par.

Injuries haven’t helped David Moyes and Everton’s cause and he won’t welcome too many players back this weekend, but a few familiar faces should return within the forthcoming week or two, which is a big boost for Everton’s depleted ranks. Everton have had to contend with the plague for the past season or so, with arguably their greatest talent; Mikel Arteta still out with a knee injury and won’t be back for some time to come. That’s an area where Everton are severely lacking in numbers and quality at the present time; midfield, as there is a distinct lack of creativity in the centre of the park, no player with any guile or natural playmaker abilities.

However, Landon Donovan has joined up with the Toffees’ on a two month loan deal and he could be just what the doctor ordered. He’s a wiley pro, with vast experience at both international and club level, and the USA star has played on just about every big footballing stage known to man. He is a striker at heart, but scoring goals isn’t just what he’s about. He can also create plenty of chances, he has a fantastic engine, and can also taken on his marker. We really think Donovan will be a fantastic addition to Moyes’ squad but whether he will make an instant impact at The Emirates is another question open to debate.

Everton’s away record this season stands at 2-2-5, which simply isn’t good enough for a club like Everton. They are, though, unbeaten in their last two, drawing at both Chelsea (3-3) and Sunderland (1-1). Their display at Chelsea was sensational, and a similar one this weekend would actually make them hard to beat, but they weren’t all that impressive at Sunderland, and a similar display like that would see them struggle. Everton are far too inconsistent for our liking and preference would have to be for the hosts, although Everton do have a big performance in their locker.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Arsenal W: 6 Everton W: 2 Draws: 2

• Arsenal claimed all the glory in the last meeting in a 6-1 mauling of Everton at Goodison Park.

• The Gunners have won the last two contests at The Emirates, winning 3-1 at home last season.

• Van Persie & Walcott were two of the goalscorers last season for Arsenal but both will be missing for this encounter.

• Everton’s pair of victories have both been to NIL, but both have come at Goodison.

• Everton’s best result on Arsenal soil came two seasons ago in a 1-1 draw.

• Everton’s worst results came at Highbury, back in 2005, when they lost 7-0.

Match Verdict: Draw – 4.50 SkyBet

Many will go for the home win here but Everton have shown signs of improving and will be better for their nitty-gritty victory against Carlisle last Saturday. That hard fought win will have brought the group of players closer together and we think a big performance is to come from David Moyes’s Everton on Saturday. After all, who can forget their display at Chelsea nearly a month ago today when they no only frustrated the league leaders but also managed to stick three past them in a 3-3 draw. Everton are certainly capable of a big display, they are unbeaten in their last three road trips and haven’t failed to score in three away encounter, either, and we don’t expect this trend to end. A draw at very decent odds is the bet for us.

Match Odds:

Arsenal – 1.40 Bet365

Draw – 4.50 SkyBet

Everton – 9.00 totesport

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Louis Saha Anytime Goalscorer – 4.30 WilliamHill