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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Daniel Harris

Arsenal 3-2 Everton: Premier League – as it happened

Aubameyang celebrates scoring Arsenal’s winning goal.
Aubameyang celebrates scoring Arsenal’s winning goal. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Ok: that, then is us. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Ta-ra.

Mikel Arteta is pleased with his team’s spirit, coming back from Greece to get a good result, and says that the first 65 minutes is exactly what he wants to see from his team; I guess he thinks Arsenal played better than I did. He says that Leno redeemed himself and that Aubameyang is Arsenal’s most important player, so he hopes he’ll stay at Arsenal. He wasn’t sure he was physically capable of doing what he asked of him, but now he knows that he is.

He goes on to say that Gomes will definitely start the next game – Manchester United at home, next Sunday – but is disappointed to be going home with no points.

Carlo Ancelotti is happy with his team’s performance, but unhappy with how his players defended. He expected Arsenal to tire in the closing stages and praises his strikers, adding that the introduction of Andre Gomes made a difference.

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang says it’s been a tough week and that Arsenal did well to find the energy. Bernd Leno confirms that, and is happy that Arsenal won.

Aubameyang – or “Ober” to nickname terms’ Geoff Shreeves - thanks his keeper for a couple of good saves, while Leno says perhaps his starting position could have been better for Richarlison’s goal, but it was unlucky for him and it doesn’t matter because his team won, the most Arsenal of answers.

Updated

Each manager will find plenty to like and plenty to dislike about what was an extremely engaging afternoon’s entertainment. When Arsenal put it together, they’re a difficult proposition for any team, but they only do it in bursts and lack the resolution to back that up.

Everton, meanwhile, were much better when they were chasing the game and had no choice but to press Arsenal high up the pitch. Had they had the confidence to do that sooner, they might have got more out of the game than a few nice vibes.

Full-time: Arsenal 3-2 Everton

Three wins in a week for Arsenal, who played well for about 20 minutes; it proved to be enough, but only just. Everton, meanwhile, persevered well and ought to have got at least a point. But they finished poorly at clutch, so stay 11th while Arsenal move 9th.

Arsenal celebrates.
Arsenal celebrates. Photograph: Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images

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90+5 min Kean turns well and moves towards goal; he has options, but opts to shoot from 20 yards, sending the ball skipping wide. Silly behaviours.

90+4 min Another cross, another Calvert-Lewin leap, but this time he can’t get over the ball, sending it back across the face, Arsenal get it away and Gomes barges Aubameyang, who grateful accepts the foul while the ref disburses a yellow card.

90+3 min The corner goes short while Arsenal aren’t paying attention, then back to Bernard on the edge of the box, alone and palely loitering. He flips a lovely ball into the middle and Calvert-Lewin is up ... but heads wide! Everton have had enough chances to win this, never mind draw.

90 +2 min Everton shift from side to side but slowly, while Arsenal more or less wait for a cross and hope to clear it. Sidibe’s effort wins a corner...

Updated

90+1 min “On the contrary, it’s the rest of the world that doesn’t allow lots of overly physical play,” says Nick, taking back control an email at a time.

90 min Leno enjoys a little sit-down, as Ancelotti warns the fourth official that there’d best be requisite time added on. The board says five minutes.

89 min Gomes curves a ball in behind the Arsenal defence and Richarlison is in the hunt, but Leno, who’s had a very good second half, rushes out to clear.

88 min Richarlison leaves a leg in on Guendouzi, and is just the right side of the line, avoiding a second yellow card – but only just.

87 min Pickford gets wide trying to play out, selling a dummy which even a Trump voter wouldn’t buy before playing Sigurdsson into trouble. Guendouzi ploughs into the tackle and the ball breaks to Nketiah, who unfuls a rasping curler which cleanses the underside of the bar and bounces to safety. People will only criticise Pickford for that because he play for England; it’d be great keeping if he didn’t.

85 min Sigurdsson humps a crossfield ball into touch. He’s been horrible today.

85 min It’s all Everton now.

84 min “It isn’t ‘playing in a dangerous manner’ when contact is made,” says Rick McGahey. “PIDM refers to forcing the opponent to alter their play in order to avoid getting or causing injury (hence the call on players lowering their head below the waist when opponents are present). If Luiz backed off due to the high boot, then its PIDM. Kicked in the head by an opponent? A straight foul for kicking the opponent. But England likes to allow lots of overly physical play, no way that is Luiz’s fault, should have been called.”

I disagree, but see the rationale.

82 min A change apiece, Kean replacing Delph; Sigurdsson will go into central-midfield; and Guendouzi replaces Ozil, who’s had yet another acrylic afternoon.

80 min Except hear come Everton again, a long diag finding Richarlison down the left! He snaps across a ball for Calvert-Lewin, attacking the near post, who allows it to run across his body so that he can punch in with the inside of his right foot, but can’t quite get the purchase. Arsenal are doing very well to still be leading.

79 min This has not been good from Arsenal, but hanging on in such circumstance would be good for Arsenal.

78 min Everton are coming. Richarlison finds Delph, then collects his low, skewed shot inside the box, dragging one of his own across Leno; the keeper’s outstretched leg does enough, with Aubameyang inserting himself into the space then occupied by the loose ball to clear.

76 min Ceballos swerves a shot wide, his final contribution. He’s replaced by Lucas Torreira.

75 min JR comes back on the first Everton goal: “It was a close call. Calvert-Lewin was about mid-kick/maximum foot height when Luiz stuck his melon in. I could see it called either way but I guess considering Luiz’s noggin was even close enough to move just a little and get kicked I’d lean toward dangerous play.”

I’d lean the other way. Luiz knows what’s going on and chooses to put his face there.

73 min Saka loses possession and Sidibe finds Bernard, whose cross is a goodun! Richarlison is up first, and heads down, the ball breaking to Calvert-Lewin, onside because somewhere far from there, Xhaka is playing him on. But the striker is almost too close, allowing Leno to spread himself and block. That’s a really good save, the precise one he was trying to make when Everton scored their second.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has a shot saved by Bernd Leno.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has a shot saved by Bernd Leno. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

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72 min I’d not be surprised to see Mesut Ozil walking towards the touchline in the near future. He’s done very little today, and is not entirely reliable in a rearguard.

70 min Everton are pressing Arsenal higher up the pitch now, and Arsenal look a little flustered. They’re in that liminal zone where they almost want to concede so that it’s done and they can commit to attack with time to score, rather than semi-sit back and rely on a useless defence.

68 min Bernard is one of those players I’ve never seen have a good game, a reality I’d have worn more comfortably if I’d noticed the wings tatted on his neck. They bring a new meaning to the saying “play with your head up”.

66 min And there’s some, a loose pass from Saka sending Everton onto the attack. Richarlison, who’s spending increasing amounts of time on the left touchline, then puts a ball into the middle, which is cleared directly to Sigurdsson ... who lashes a first-timer somewhere past Neptune and towards Selhurst Park.

64 min Calvert-Lewin flashes a snap-shot wide. As long as this stays 3-2, Everton are well in the game, because Arsenal can insert some hideous defending just like that.

63 min “Interested in hearing about what folk think of your settler/dictator axis in predicting the coaching success of former players,” says Mike Hellberg. “Wouldn’t Inzaghi have been a settler?”

Not necessarily, or at least that’s not my only criterion – I’m also looking for players who played with the hearts versus players who played with their heads. You can, for example, be a striker and still spend a lot of time thinking about the game and how to get the most from your talent.

62 min “I would suggest that if you were to re-watch the first goal of the game, as I just have several times,” says JR in Illinois, “you would see that Calvert-Lewin literally kicked Luiz in the head. And I mean ‘literally’ in the literal sense of the word, not in the new way where it can also mean the opposite of literally. If you were to see Calvert-Lewin’s boot connecting with Luiz’s head would it change your opinion that the goal should have been allowed?”

Yes, maybe. I guess I’d want to see whether Calvert-Lewin was through his shot before Luiz waved his swede in there.

61 min David Luiz is back in business.

60 min And Bernard replaces Iwobi.

59 min While Luiz receives treatment, Andre Gomes replaces Schneiderlin.

58 min Nice from Holgate, launching a long one to Richarlison, who’s pulled left. He then squares up Mustafi, who does nothing apart from back off, then rolls a sidefooter into the path of the onrushing Lewin; David Luiz does just enough to disrupt him, on the slide, but stays down thereafter.

57 min Sigurdsson shakes off Ceballos in centrefield and Ceballos goes down, clutching his entire phizog. But no one cares, so play proceeds and thew ball goes wide to Sidibe, who crosses straight at Leno.

56 min Bernard and Gomes are getting ready.

56 min Xhaka marauds forward, finding Ozil on the right, and he clips an aimless chip into Pickford’s arms.

54 min Everton are just inching their way back into this, Sidibe driving a shot into ankles.

54 min “Wondering if Mustafi’s blue rinse hints at early retirement,” tweets Kevin Towl.

52 min Arsenal are all over Everton, for whom Andre Gomes is now warming up.

50 min “It seems that Rangers are continuing to ruin their chances of a first league title since their financial problems and demotions,” says David Wall. “I wonder what it was that the Rangers board saw in Steven Gerrard, a guy with experience of butchering title challenges from positions of advantage under both Benitez and Rodgers, to make them think he could lead a side successful through a title run-in.”

I’m not sure about that. I wouldn’t blame him for the title Benitez didn’t win, I’d blame Ronaldo – and Macheda - and though he slipped at a crucial moment under Rodgers, his team-mates had ample time to rescue him and could not. I think that Celtic are just a better team, though didn’t see much from Gerrard as a player or as a pundit to make me think he’d be a good manager. He played on instinct, settling games rather than dictating them, and isn’t a good talker.

49 min Everton might get themselves a pummelling here. This is exactly the kind of situation in which Mesut Ozil excels.

48 min Ancelotti must be fuming. I daresay he even lowered an eyebrow.

GOAL! Arsenal 3-2 Everton (Aubameyang 46)

Twenty-three seconds! That’s what it took for Arsenal to shove Carlo Ancelotti’s half-time team-talk up his nostril. Bellerin moved the ball out to Pepe, who lifted a cross towards Aubameyang, and with Sidibe dreaming of pink flying hippos and fluffy toilet seats, the master finisher despatched a header into the corner.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring. Photograph: Michael Zemanek/BPI/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

46 min We go again. And yes, Graeme Souness really did say that.

Half-time email: “Hi, do you think there were genuine issues of high-foot in both or one of the Everton goals? asks Harry Bowie. “Feel like in the second the studs-out from Richarlison was a bit suspect, but Leno should be ready to put his chests or head into studs to prevent a goal, I suppose.”

Graeme Souness thought Calvert-Lewin’s foot was high when he scored the first one, but I disagree. His foot was high, but it wasn’t close to booting a head. As for the second, football is a contact sport, he yerdadded, and Richarlison had every chance of getting to it, which he did.

Half-time entertainment: it’s been an important afternoon in Scotland, with Rangers drawing and Celtic winning. Nine in a row is very, very close.

Half-time: Arsenal 2-2 Everton

That was a hugely entertaining half of football, Arsenal giving goals away as quickly as they can score them. The second should be a belter.

GOAL! Arsenal 2-2 Everton (Richarlison 45+4)

Everton win a corner that’s not properly cleared, and when the ball’s tossed back in, Mina wins the second ball and Leno spreads himself when he needs to come and get the ball, as though he’d rather make a save than get hit. Except there’s no save to be made until Richarlison takes an unchallenged poke which is enough to beat the aforementioned spread. Poor defending, poor keeping, absolute Arsenal.

Richarlison scores his team’s second goal.
Richarlison scores his team’s second goal. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

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45+3 min In commentary, Gary Neville and Bill Leslie note that they can hear the discussions at “Stockley Park”, as officials try to decide if that foul deserved a yellow or a red. They both reckon that fans should be able to hear them and that’d solve the problem of VAR; I can’t think of anything I want less at a game that that. Football is an emotional experience, not a pedagogical one.

45+2 min Bellerin and Calvert-Lewin crunch each other in pursuit of a loose ball, then Richarlison slices Ceballos in half. Brows are then connected as outrage abounds, before the ref hands out a yellow card and everyone gets on with it.

Dani Ceballos reacts after being fouled by Everton’s Richarlison.
Dani Ceballos reacts after being fouled by Everton’s Richarlison. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

Updated

45+1 min There’ll be five added minutes.

Updated

45 min Everton win a free-kick down the left which Baines sticks into the box. And, though things have changed since that first goal, not everything has changed; Richarlison still has a free header, but he gets under the ball and send it high and wide.

43 min Everton need half-time. They’ve barely had a kick since, er, Kolasinac went off and Saka came on.

41 min Saka shakes his way past Sidibe, on the outside, who responds with a desperate slide-tackle that just about does the job.

39 min Almost all of Arsenal’s attacks have come down their left, which must be nauseating for Nicolas Pepe, because it’s not a coincidence. He spends a lot fo time keeping the width, which is important because it drags the opposing defence across, facilitating goals like the one scored by Aubameyang. But it’s not especially helpful if you’re a winger who likes to cut inside and generally take part in the game.

36 min Bit of possession for Everton. They started really well, and you could easily argue that there wasn’t lots to be done about Arsenal’s first goal. But the second was very poor defensively, starting from the front.

35 min “It’s taken me a while to be convinced,” says Richard Harris, “but I think Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be in the England Euro 2020 squad, rather than Danny Ings. He’s better in the air and holds the ball up well so if he stays fit and keeps scoring I think Southgate will go with a player he knows. Having that sort of goal in his locker won’t be lost on the England boss.”

Both have their uses, and who goes depends on who’s fit. I’d expect Rashford to make it, and it’s hard to see someone telling Kane he’s not fit. As for who to chose between these two, Ings perhaps makes more sense in terms of offering something that isn’t there otherwise, but Calvert-Lewin will end up being a better player. He’s got plenty of time to make himself a sure thing, but for now, he’s just a talented player in form.

GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Everton (Aubameyang 33)

David Luiz is allowed to stroll out from the back and you can’t play a high line with no pressure on the ball. He slides a perfect pass into the path of Aubameyang, who leaves Sidibe standing coming from out to in, and obviously he opens his body and passes his usual finish into the bottom corner.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal scores the second goal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal scores the second goal. Photograph: Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images

Updated

31 min Schneiderlin tugs back Nketiah and is booked.

Updated

29 min Arsenal break and Pepe sweeps a ball into the box, to meet Ozil, on the charge; that is not a misprint. But Pickford is out just quickly enough to smother.

29 min Alex Ferguson used to tell his strikers to get to the near post because that’s where you get your goals – who knows what’ll happen when the ball passes there – and Nketiah knows it. He’ll need to add more to his game, but he’s absolutely got the knack.

GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Everton (Nketiah 27)

This is a lovely goal! Saka is out by the touchline, close to the by-line, and has a defender in close proximity. So he simply bends a luscious cross into the near post which Nketiah reads perfectly, leaping to punch a side-footer past Pickford. That is an expert’s finish, and Bukayo Saka is a star.

Eddie Nketiah scores their first goal.
Eddie Nketiah scores their first goal. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters

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26 min Xhaka collects off Luiz and finds Aubameyang, whose eyes light up when he sees Saka gliding up in support. He takes possession and the ball makes its way over to Pepe, who drives into Pickford’s midriff; he collects at the second attempt.

24 min Pepe gets himself into space down the right, cuts inside onto his left foot and wellies a hopeful shot over the bar, crtl c, ctrl x.

22 min “There’s yonks to go in this game I admit,” says Stephen Carr, “but I do think it’s worth pointing out how much better Ancelotti has done at Everton than Arteta has at Arsenal.”

Yes, although you could argue the job they need to do are different. Ancelotti had a fairly well-balanced squad, whereas Arteta can’t really invent decent defenders. But it’s also fair to say that, if you appoint a young manager, they’re likely to be learning on the job. The majority of what Ancelotti is going to know, he knows already.

21 min I guess, if we’re looking on their bright side, Arsenal now have a better XI on the pitch than they did at kick-off. But Everton look good for another goal at some point.

20 min “Er,” says tom Shaw, “can you tell me why Everton had to change their kit because because royal blue clashes with Arsenal’s red? Maybe I’ve got exceptional eyesight, but I can tell the difference.”

I can only give you my best guess, which begins with “Gr” and ends with eenbacks”.

19 min Saka replaces Kolasinac.

17 min Oh dear. Kolasinac is hurt – his arm is in a sling and he’s holding his shoulder. He’ll have to go off, having only just come back from injury.

Sead Kolasinac gets injured.
Sead Kolasinac gets injured. Photograph: Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images

Updated

16 min The Emirates: London’s greatest dance floor.

calvert-lewin
lingard

15 min Sidibe and Kolasinac contest a high ball – even the air winces - and their bodies mince. Kolasinac absorbs the worst of it and accepts treatment.

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14 min “I’m watching this on a small screen, admittedly,” says Thomas Atkins, “but Mustafi’s haircut makes him look like mid-noughties horrorshow centre-half Pascal Cygan from a distance. Seems to be playing like him too.”

Given a roll of honour which includes Squillachi, Senderos, Silverstre, Stepanovs and Chambers, I’d say Cygan was one of the better centre-backs signed by Wenger.

13 min Arsenal win a corner down the right which Pepe swings in. Mustafi is up too, but he’s under it rather than on a run, and heads over the top.

12 min This is an enjoyable game. Both sides are looking to attack, and neither seems all that au fait with is commonly referred to as “defending”.

10 min Arsenal are Mustafis and Luizes in defence and Calvert-Lewin gets in behind. But the former slides in, to concede a corner which comes to nothing.

9 min Everton counter at speed, and Wicharlison weleases Irobi, who cuts into the box and has men in the middle. But he tries to punch an ambitious finish into the far top corner and it’s not a bad effort, but he’d have been much better seeking to square.

8 min Do we think beards are ever going to cease being “fashionable”? It’s been years now. I ask this because Sidibe has a strange version, that’s like a goatee only it has bits which proceed up the jawline.

7 min Mustafinbauer strides forward and finds Aubameyang down the left. He has men in the middle too, but dallies and dithers until Sidibe slides in, blocking the eventual cross behind. The corner comes to nowt.

5 min Possession for Arsenal, who are settling. Ceballos slings a pass wide for Pepe, who attracts three men, allowing him to poke back to Bellerin, who’s unmarked. But he flings his head up and arches his back back, sweeping over the bar close to the near post.

3 min “Charles, you’re not entirely wrong but you have misread Trump a bit,” says Mary Waltz. “Making the UK people American citizens would imply that Trump would give you equal status. Trump will offer you indentured servant status instead.”

I look forward to Boris Johnson building a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean.

GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Everton (Calvert-Lewin 1)

We’ve all seen Arsenal play football. Everton win a free-kick 30 yards out and Arsenal’s marking is extremely arsenal, so when Sigurdsson curls it in, there are 62 attackers behind the defensive line. The ball then hits Luiz on the shoulder because of course it does, but what about what happens next! Calvert-Lewin vaults into an overhead kick, somehow sending the ball to Leno’s right, with his right foot, from bang in front of goal. Brilliant finish.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton scores the opening goal.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton scores the opening goal. Photograph: Michael Zemanek/BPI/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

1 min For those watching in black and white, Everton are playing in their navy change kit, because their usual royal blue clashes with Arsenal’s red.

1 min Off we go!

Shkodran, we still know it’s you.

mustafi

“If we’re doing predictions,” says Charles Antaki, “then mine is that Bernie will win the nomination, Trump will reign for 10 more years or until the world goes to blazes literally and figuratively, and Boris will make us all take US citizenship.”

I think this is a Stan Kroenke riff.

Here they come!

The players are tunnelled, Leighton Baines humming Menswear’s latest number.

But I can’t stop looking at that Everton midfield, which is extremely slow. Ancelotti will need to have a plan to mitigate that, because Arsenal have an extra man and extra technique.

So how is this one going to go? I think there’s a good chance Everton cause Arsenal problems to begin with, and although the bookies don’t agree with me, I can see a score draw.

Ancelotti says the players are working well and that Lucas Digne felt something in the week, so he preferred not to risk him. That’s about it.

“I’m intrigued!” emails Harry Christie. “What’s your beef with Laca? He’s profligate but his hold-up play and general work-rate is crucial to getting up the pitch and surely is a better option than Bambi on Ice Nketiah?”

No beef, I think he’s an alright player. But he’s slow and doesn’t score enough – he wouldn’t get in any of the teams with whom Arsenal want to compete, and he’s not good enough to justify Aubameyang hanging about on the left. If you could combine them you’d have a player.

Updated

Geoff Shreeves asks Mikel Arteta if he wants Arsenal to play well today. Yes, Arteta does want Arsenal to play well today. He (Arteta, not Shreeves) also says that he wanted fresh players today, and is impressed by Everton under Ancelotti. Amazingly, he’s not bothered when Shreeves tells him that Everton have yet to win at the Emirates; how can he possibly discount the significance of the 1-1 draw in October 2006? Pah.

Longtime followers of this blog will know that it’s not really a blog about football but a blog about nineties jungle, and Sky have just played this so.

In some ways I’m surprised by the teams Arteta’s been picking. He was essentially given six months to build something, but I still don’t think we’ve seen what will be his first XI next season. He’s shown a lot more faith in Lacazette than I expected, given there’s not a chance he thinks he’s good enough for where Arsenal want to go, and it’s also slightly odd how seldom Aubameyang has played centre-forward.

The question, though, is whether Schneiderlin and Delph spend their afternoon chugging about – ok, that bit isn’t a question – as Ceballos and Ozil dance between them. I’d not be at all surprised to see that in the second half, but if Everton can get in amongst them early on, I’d be equally unsurprised to see Everton score first.

It’ll be interesting to see how Arsenal’s fabled defence deals with Everton’s strikers. Richarlison has the raw materials to develop into a serious player – I’m not surprised Barca were interested in him, nor that Everton knocked them back, because where are they getting anyone even nearly as good? If Sigurdsson and Iwobi can get him enough of the ball, he can give Luiz and Mustafi plenty, and that’s even before we consider that he’s got Calvert-Lewin next to him.

It’s great to see Mason Holgate establishing himself in the Everton side. I remember seeing him in a pre-season game maybe three years ago, and he looked a player then; I’m not surprised to see that he’s now ahead of Michael Keane in the pecking order, because I am intimately familiar with the politics of chicken coops.

As for Everton, Walcott is out and Bernard on the bench. Delph, meanwhile, returns from suspension and Iwobi comes back in off the bench. In defence, Sidibe is preferred to Coleman, while Digne is injured. And, in great news, Andre Gomes is back on the bench.

Updated

Yes, ok, Saka isn’t playing. Very funny. It’s the way you tell them. I wonder if that shows us that Arteta’s priority is the Europa League, because nothing I’ve seen of Sead Kolasinac says that he’s superior in any department, other than battering muggers. Otherwise, Ozil is in because it’s a home game against a less good team, and so does Ceballos, who was good against Newcastle. Lacazette also drops out, with Nketiah replacing him.

Teams!

Arsenal (an artetaballing! 4-3-3): Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Luiz, Kolasinac; Xhaka, Ceballos, Ozil; Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang. Subs: Martinez, Sokratis, Lacazette, Torreira, Nelson, Guendouzi, Saka.

Everton (a sophisticate’s 4-4-2): Pickford; Sidibe, Holgate, Mina, Baines; Sigurdsson, Delph, Schneiderlin, Iwobi; Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Stekelenburg, Keane, Bernard, Gomes, Coleman, Davies, Kean.

Preamble

There’s quite a lot going on here. Both teams have new managers and both have improved since appointing them. But can we really be arsed yet another discussion about whether the name of a manager who’s done nothing merits the suffix “ball”, or with examining Carlo’s Ancelotti’s stellar career of success with other people’s teams, when we could just talk about Bukayo Sako instead? Of course we can’t, so here we go.

In the 37 years I’ve been hopelessly obsessed with this thing of ours, never has there been such a hilarious, disgusting raft of brilliant young English talent. Why, it’s almost as though these things are cyclical; that the influx of foreign players has raised domestic standards; and that those who are good enough will always find a way!

Saka, then. He first attracted attention in the dog-days of early season, when Arsenal were only worth watching if they were playing in the Europa League, because their younger players had yet to be enervated by Unai Emery’s masterplan. He scored a lovely goal away to Eintracht Frankfurt, but yet more impressive were his two assists and the general intelligence of his play. Still, it was fairly surprising that, when Arsenal needed a left-back, it was to him they turned, and the way he has embraced the challenge is nothing short of shocking. Not because Saka’s talent is in dispute, but because 18-year-olds tend not to establish themselves in any top-flight team, never mind in the wrong position; attackers playing in defence even less so.

It’s fair to say that, as the game and the world have changed, what defenders do has changed too. Kids tend to play small-sided games with the focus on skill rather than physicality and the internet has made the game accessible in all its forms, while at the elite level, attack has triumphed over defence. Saka, though, mixes this modern approach with the timeless elements that will always distinguish reliable players from useful players: attitude, decision-making and nous. He is entirely unfazed by the frankly ludicrous situation in which he finds himself, his ability to select the correct cross for each situation is far more impressive than his ability to execute it, and his solidity at the back is more noteworthy than his enterprise going forward. He is the very model of a modern English ftbllr.

Anyway, this should be a really good game. Arsenal are unbeaten in 2020 and, following a succession of draws, have won three on the spin. Everton, meanwhile, haven’t lost since their FA Cup humiliation at Anfield, have won their last two and are – dare I say it – starting to look like a team.

Kick-off: 4.30pm GMT

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