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Everton vs Arsenal

Match Preview

In retrospect, the Blues' fixture calendar going back as far as mid-September had a fairly benign look to it and that fact doesn't ease the nagging feeling in the pit of the Evertonian stomach that the team has missed a big opportunity over the past few weeks.

Moyes's side have lost just once since their disappointing display at the Hawthorns on 1st September but they've also only won three of those 10 games from, as we all know full well by now, promising positions of attacking and territorial superiority in almost every case.

Importantly, though, they have got something from all but one of those games and while a continued glut of draws won't get the Blues anywhere near the Champions League, the points they have amassed to this point does provide a platform from which to build while the team works through its current frustrations.

The complication, of course, is that the fixture list now takes on a decidedly more treacherous look, starting with the midweek visit of Arsenal and continuing through the Etihad and Britannia Stadiums, Upton Park and home games against Tottenham and Chelsea before the end of the year. Plenty of opportunity for Everton to really make a statement of intent in their quest for fourth place but an equally daunting prospect for a side struggling to keep clean sheets and score enough goals.

Injuries to really important players have not made things any easier. Marouane Fellaini will return after serving a one-game ban for reach five bookings on the season, although it's not clear who should make way. Steven Naismith has grabbed three goals over the past month as a starter, Steven Pienaar's enterprise is well known but he is worryingly off form, and Bryan Oviedo was arguably Everton's best player on Saturday before he switched to the right flank.

Regarding the possibility of Darron Gibson or Kevin Mirallas returning to the starting line-up, Moyes was giving nothing away in his pre-match press conference.

Both were close to being ready but neither played any part in the 1-1 draw with Norwich on Saturday, perhaps because their manager was saving them for the visit of Arsenal where he could put out something close to his strongest side. Gibson, in particular, needs to be eased back into action after almost two months out and Mirallas, by the nature of hamstring injuries, could also suffer a set-back by returning too quickly.

Gibson would be an obvious replacement for Thomas Hitzlsperger who has done well since making his first start at Reading 10 days ago and should Mirallas return, again Pienaar, Naismith or Oviedo — assuming they hadn't already made way for Fellaini — are potential options to drop to the bench.

Elsewhere in the side it was assumed that Seamus Coleman missed out against Norwich through injury and though Tony Hibbert was named among the substitutes, Phil Jagielka was preferred at right back. Whether Moyes saw enough from that reshuffled back line to persist with it remains to be seen, though.

With every player that returns, of course, Moyes's options increase and the selection headaches become positive ones.

The Gunners come to Merseyside sitting sixth in the table and a point behind the Blues having battled through erratic form over the first quarter of the campaign. They have shown an ability to score goals when they're in the mood but defensive fallability has also seen them drop points of their own which has raised yet more questions in North London about the Board's willingness to invest in the squad and the future of Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal are the last team to win at Goodison Park when they escaped with a 1-0 win back in March, though, and their record against the Blues in the Premier League era will give them confidence coming into what is an important match-up as far as that race for fourth is concerned: They did the double over Everton in each of the last two seasons and haven't lost here in five seasons.

Even though he played in the same fixture in March, much of the media focus will be on the return of Mikel Arteta but perhaps the biggest threats to Everton's newly porous back line will be the pace of the likes of top scorer Theo Walcott, who should return from a shoulder problem, and the invention of Santi Cazorla.

The Blues have looked vulnerable on the break in recent weeks and that may be how Arsene Wenger sets out his stall for this one, while keeping an eye on how he can capitalise from set-pieces — another area where Moyes's men have been susceptible — through Lukas Podolski or Olivier Giroud.

For Everton, possession, that elusive ruthlessness and the power of the Goodison 12th man under the floodlights will be key. At their best this season they've looked capable of beating anyone in the division — they just need to channel that belief and attacking talent into goals.

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