Arsenal look to consolidate top four hopes as Everton visit
Arsenal are odds-on at 4/7 with Coral to beat Everton, after a devastating 3-1 Emirates defeat to Monaco in midweek in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 match.
The Toffees have not won any of their last 18 visits to the Emirates and Arsenal have won five of their last six Premier League matches. Everton meanwhile, have won just one of their last 10 games and are 17 points worse off than they were at this point last season.
Per Mertesacker could be replaced in defence by Gabriel Paulista after being at fault for all three Monaco goals, though if he plays, Roberto Martinez will be looking to exploit the German, using the force of Romelu Lukaku who is 9/4 to score anytime.
Olivier Giroud though, despite wasting a considerable amount of chances in midweek, has scored eight goals in 12 games and, as a result, is 4/1 to break the deadlock.
Following the match, the striker admitted he was “hurting”, though vows to keep trying: “I am not a better or worse player than three days ago, it is just about confidence and keeping strong” he said.
“I am really hurting, more than disappointed, it has been embarrassing for me. But I have never given up in my career and sometimes I have had tough games like that before.
“It was difficult because nothing went right, everything was tough for me. I tried to keep focused but I understood why the boss wanted to substitute me. It was not my day,” the player continued.
“When you are a striker people expect more from you. I did well recently and scored a lot of goals, but when you miss chances it is like that – you have to question yourself. I will keep working hard and bounce back as soon as possible.”
Santi Cazorla has also been impressive recently, and dispatched a penalty in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in their last league match, and is 11/4 to net anytime.
For Everton, they had an impressive win in the Europa League last time out to progress to the last 16 of the competition, with Lukaku bagging a brace and compatriot Kevin Mirallas dispatching. He is 7/2 to net anytime.