Everton vs Arsenal Match Preview (21/03/12)

Arsenal head to Goodison this Wednesday night to face Everton and it will be a pretty sombre atmosphere in the grand old lady after a disappointing draw against Sunderland last Saturday.

To draw against Sunderland is no mean feat! They have turned themselves into a determined and well organised football team under Martin O’Neill, however it was a great chance to reach the semi's and going up to their place will be a much harder task.

Mikel Arteta returns for Arsenal and will be no doubt be given a tremendous reception by the Evertonians for all he did for us. Personally I was fairly disappointed by the way Arteta forced his transfer through so close to the window but I don’t think any fans will hold that against him and can understand his reasons for leaving.

Arteta was by no means a spent force but he did certainly seem to have gone a bit stale at Everton and I think it was a good time to leave. His skill, invention and passing have been missed but I cant say the same about his free kicks which seemed to be aimed at the top of the Park End most of the time during the end of his tenure at Goodison.

Fans will be hoping for another night like the ones against City, Tottenham etc but its always a tricky game against Arsenal and they are on a good run at the moment and with confidence low at Everton it seems certain to be another hard game.

Pienaar’s return to the team will be a big boost and he was greatly missed against Sunderland in the cup. Johnny Heitinga is fast becoming a colossus at the back and Jags faces a bit of a task to get his place back.

Sylvain Distin was superb again on Saturday casually ushering the ball out of danger several times. His lack of pace is slightly worrying at times but he has showed he can gloss over that with the rest of his game.

Jelavic looked frustrated on Saturday and is obviously still adjusting to the English game not to mention the fact he’s still getting over an injury which may still be niggling him.

Lets hope for another one of them Goodison nights against Arsenal on Wednesday. Sure we’re disappointed we couldn’t finish job against Sunderland but were still in the cup, not far from the European places and there’s no reason why we cant do a job on the Gunners.

Arsène Wenger has unjustifiably in my opinion had his critics this season, although its easy to say that now Arsenal are on a decent run of their own. Your cant fault the loyalty and faith he has in his team but lets hope we can get him in a nark when he’s doing his pre match interview against Everton because in Wenger code that inevitably means we will have performed well.

Our Result Prediction: Everton 2-2 Arsenal

The Actual Result Was: Everton 0-1 Arsenal