There are plenty of similarities between Everton and Arsenal as the two teams prepare to face each other in the Premier League’s early kick-off on Saturday.
Following the sackings of Marco Silva and Unai Emery, both clubs are currently being led by former players – Duncan Ferguson and Freddie Ljungberg – on a temporary basis.
However, with Carlo Ancelotti close to joining Everton and Mikel Arteta reportedly on his way to the Emirates, both sides could have new managers by the time play gets under way at Goodison Park.
While Ferguson seems to have turned around Everton’s poor start to the season, Ljungberg has not been able to spark an upturn of form for Arsenal.
Since Silva’s departure, the Toffees have beaten Chelsea and claimed a well-deserved draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. This has seen Everton steer clear of the relegation zone.
On the other hand, Arsenal were without a win in seven Premier League games before coming from behind to beat West Ham earlier in the month. But a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City means the Gunners have slipped to tenth in the table.
Arsenal are now seven points off the top four, while a win for Everton on Saturday would see the Merseysiders climb to within one point of Arsenal.
Everton have picked up 13 of their 18 points at home this season – winning four of their eight league games at Goodison Park in 2019/20. Still, Arsenal have lost three of their eight league games on the road this term.
The Toffees beat Arsenal in their previous meeting, but the Gunners have had the better of the head-to-head record in this fixture in recent times.
Arsenal have won eight of the last ten meetings between the two sides, while scoring over 1.5 goals on seven occasions in that time.
Everton will be hoping that influential midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson will be fit to play this weekend. However, Theo Walcott, Morgan Schneiderlin, Lucas Digne and Fabian Delph are all doubts.
Kieran Tierney looks set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines for Arsenal, but Hector Bellerin and Granit Xhaka will be hopeful of making a return to first-team action.
Given the unusual circumstances, it’s difficult to know what to expect when these two teams face off on Saturday. With that being said, Arsenal will be confident of maintaining their superiority over Everton.
Forebet predicts that both teams will score, but Arsenal should have enough quality to outscore the home side.