Arsenal vs Everton
The Emirates is the place to be for Sunday afternoon football when Marco Silva brings his Toffees to Arsenal in a classic Premier League encounter.
These two have been in the UK’s flagship competition since its inception and in England’s top flight for many years before. But in recent times, there have been slim pickings in North London and Merseyside with the trophy cabinets at Arsenal and Everton not exactly over-laden.
Both teams have new managers this season, with growing reputations having taken on the biggest jobs in their careers so far. Silva has been charged with transforming Everton from also-rans to Europe hopefuls, while the Premier League 2018 odds suggest a Champions League place is the very best Unai Emery can expect in his first year in charge of the Gunners.
Of the two, Arsenal have been making bigger strides in the last couple of weeks.
Talking Points
Unai Emery may have a good thing going at the Emirates, but only time will tell. This match is a decent barometer, though, as Everton are expected to be in the hunt for seventh place. But they are the sort of team the top clubs should really expect to put away.
Much depends on continuing his encouraging progress so far and the consistent form of his flair players. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has impressed in fits and starts since his £56m arrival at the Emirates last January; he scored a double last night as the Gunners started their Europa League campaign with a win over Vorskla Poltava.
The oft-maligned Mesut Ozil was on target too, but Emery won’t have been overly pleased to see a 4-0 lead turn into a 4-2 result. Arsenal’s defence has been too easily breached this season, conceding 11 goals from six competitive games, often late in the game.
The centre-back partnership between Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos is yet to develop an understanding which can produce clean sheets, and that’s not good news for the goalkeepers. Petr Cech is the man in goal so far but Leno, bought for £22m from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, played in the Europa League tie and, while there wasn’t a lot he could do, seeing his own net bulge twice in the closing minutes can’t have helped his cause any.
But with four wins on a run, in all competitions, they are doing something right at the Emirates and they have a great chance to make it five on Sunday.
Everton have been in the shadow of their Merseyside neighbours for decades, and it won’t please the blue side of Liverpool that the Reds are enjoying a perfect start one bit. And Silva is under some pressure to deliver. He arrived at Hull with fanfare two seasons ago but failed to keep them up. Then, after a good start at Watford, once his head was turned by Everton, the results at Vicarage Road took a nosedive.
So now he’s where he wanted to be, but he knows full well he must fulfil his well-trumpeted potential.
Former Arsenal star Theo Walcott is enjoying his rebirth at Everton and has likened the methods of his new boss to those of the great Arsene Wenger. Walcott has scored five goals in his 19 appearances for the Toffees so far, and his pace and poise on the ball is a real asset. How he would love to score once more at the Emirates.
History
These two teams are part of the Premier league fabric and have been in the top flight of English football for 164 consecutive years between them, Arsenal since 1919.
Arsenal’s Premier League 2018 results have certainly picked up since back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea. The Gunners have been accused of being flat-track bullies in the last, and we are yet to see evidence to the contrary. But the Gunners managed to beat West Ham, something Everton failed spectacularly to do last week. And that means Marco Silva’s team has won just one of its opening five games.
The head-to-heads show how Arsenal has dominated their visitors during the Premier League era, with 35 wins, 12 draws and just seven wins for Everton from 54 meetings. And the Gunners handed out two hammerings last season: Aaron Ramsay scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 victory at the Emirates while the Gunners 2-5 earlier in the season at Goodison Park.
Betting Tip
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Arsenal vs Everton | Arsenal -1.25 @ 2.01 |
| September 23, 23:00 (GMT+8) |
Our pre-match SBOBET odds point to a comfortable home win, with the margin of 1.25 goals evening things up. Everton with that +1.25 advantage is at 1.94, but the Gunners have greater momentum and history heavily weighed in their favour.
Both teams have contributed to four out of five league games yielding over 2.5 goals, and Everton has scored in every game, while neither has yet managed a clean sheet.
So a four-goal match will pay dividends, with odds of 1.99 on over 3.25 goals, or 2.41 on 4-6 goals.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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