Arsenal’s ‘soft underbelly’ was once again exposed at Goodison Park, where Everton, who had been on one of their worst Premier League runs since the turn of the millennium, deservedly won three points over the hapless Gunners.
The Gunners took a 1-0 lead thanks to Martin Odegaard’s strike on the stroke of half-time, but Richarlison – who had two goals ruled out on the day – and Demarai Gray turned the game around as Arsenal failed to hold on to a thin advantage for the second time.
There was some controversy around Ben Godfrey’s unpunished stamp on Takehiro Tomiyasu, but Arsenal got exactly what they deserved on an evening when Eddie Nketiah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both squandered gilt-edged chances to equalise the game.
The North London club has dropped to seventh in the Premier League table, four points behind the top four, after a couple of defeats since the beginning of the month, but happily for the home crowd this weekend, the majority of their bad luck has come on the road.
Arsenal Team News
In the Everton defeat, Arsenal welcomed back Granit Xhaka ahead of schedule, and Gabriel Martinelli has been passed fit after a recent injury scare.
Sead Kolasinac is still out, and Bernd Leno, the team’s second-choice goalkeeper, is a doubt, but Arteta is hoping that Emile Smith Rowe will return after missing the game at Goodison Park.
Despite the fact that Nketiah, Aubameyang, and Alexandre Lacazette all failed to impress on Merseyside, the Gunners skipper will hope to be reinstated to the starting XI after being dropped last time out.
Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; Aubameyang