Premier League leaders Arsenal have a unique challenge to contend with as they head to Goodison Park to take on Everton in league play on Saturday.
With Everton sitting 19th in the league table, the Toffees sacked manager Frank Lampard and hired Sean Dyche to save the club from relegation. After narrowly avoiding the drop last season, they're straight back into trouble again and need another rescue.
The perception around clubs with new managers is there is a period of time where the performances and results temporarily improve before the real effects of the change set in. This "new manager bump" will be a hurdle for the Gunners to clear if they are to take another step in securing the league title.
Defeat to title contenders Manchester City in the FA Cup last time out leave Arsenal fans hoping for a return to form, but elimination from domestic Cup competitions will take a back seat to the primary importance of league play where supporters truly crave a championship.
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Everton vs Arsenal odds
Arsenal, as Premier League leaders against a relegation candidate, are understandably massive favorites in this match. It doesn't seem like the betting market has any confidence that the "new manager bump" will help Sean Dyche and his new side at home.
The main issue for Everton will be breaching one of the Premier League's best defensive sides. With the 1.5 goal spread in favor of Everton, and the 2.5 goal total slightly shaded towards the under, it seems bookmakers believe a 2-0 Arsenal win is the most likely outcome.
Odds via BetMGM (USA), Sports Interaction (Canada), SkyBet (UK), and Neds (Australia).
| BetMGM | Sports Interaction | SkyBet | Neds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everton win | +650 | +721 | 8/1 | 8.25 |
| Draw | +375 | +382 | 19/5 | 4.40 |
| Arsenal win | -250 | -302 | 4/11 | 1.40 |
| Both teams to score Y / N | +105 / -150 | +101 / -159 | 1/1, 8/11 | 2.05 / 1.70 |
| Over / Under 2.5 goals | -130 / -110 | -124 / -107 | 8/11, 1/1 | 1.85 / 1.95 |
| Arsenal -1.5 | +110 | +116 | — | — |
| Everton +1.5 | -160 | -147 | — | — |
Everton vs Arsenal: 3 things to know
Everton vs Arsenal match facts
- Date: Saturday, February 4
- Kickoff time: 7:30 am ET / 12:30 pm GMT / 11:30 pm AEDT
- Location: Goodison Park (Liverpool, England)
- Official: David Coote
Everton vs Arsenal team news
Dyche has confirmed no changes on the injury front for Everton, and the former Burnley boss is unlikely to make sweeping changes just yet as he looks to build a plan for Premier League survival. Andros Townsend is still a few weeks away from returning after knee surgery, as are James Garner and Nathan Patterson. It's possible Ben Godfrey returns from a less significant knee injury but it seems like he'll need a little more time.
Arteta will be without Egypt international Mohamed Elneny following the club's decision to send him for knee surgery, with Gabriel Jesus and Reiss Nelson both still out injured as well. Thomas Partey is rated at 50/50 to start by Arteta, with deadline-day signing Jorginho set to replace him for his Gunners debut if the Ghanaian can't prove fit.
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Everton vs Arsenal key stats
- Arsenal have won their last three Premier League matches by multiple goals. The Gunners haven't won four straight league games by multiple goals since 1953.
- Arsenal have 99 league victories all-time against Everton. No English club has ever achieved 100 league victories over a single opponent.
- New Everton manager Sean Dyche has lost 11 matches to Arsenal, joint-second most defeats to any one club in his career, level with Tottenham and only behind his 14 defeats to Manchester City. His only win over Arsenal in 14 career games came in December, 2020, a 1-0 victory for Burnley thanks to a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang own-goal.
Everton vs Arsenal prediction
- Moneyline lean: Arsenal (-250)
- Against the spread lean: Arsenal -1.5 (+110)
- Score prediction: Everton 0-2 Arsenal
Sean Dyche will certainly know how to get Everton playing like a contender for Premier League safety, and he'll have had some time to put together a good game plan, but this match is just too tall a task for this Everton squad.
Still, Dyche is known for his defensive rigidity, and while getting Everton flowing up front is not something he can fix immediately, their defensive structure will pose problems for the Gunners. This match could easily be scoreless at halftime, or see Arsenal with a slim lead, and while a late goal will give Arsenal all three points, it could be in the balance until the final minutes.
The Toffees have matches against vulnerable sides coming up on the schedule, and there are plenty of points to be had, but this game is just not suited well for Everton to secure an upset result in Dyche's debut. His presence will be a massive positive for Everton through the rest of the season, but today is not the time for his influence to shine through.
Everton vs Arsenal: Best bet
- Pick: Half with most goals — 2H
- Odds: +100 (BetMGM)
If you follow our previews here at Sporting News, you'll have seen this one crop up often. While often this is a bet on teams that open up after the break, here this selection is more of a wager on Sean Dyche hoping to close things off for Arsenal and get his side to the break scoreless.
One of Everton's biggest issues this season has been conceding first half goals and letting games get away early. Only Bournemouth, Southampton, and maybe Fulham profile as worse first half teams defensively this season, and they've collected just five points after conceding the first goal in league play this season.
Dyche should pack it in through the first half and give Arsenal very little space to operate. This plays to the visitors' strength as well, since the Gunners are the best Premier League team in the 46-60 minute window, scoring 13 of their 45 goals in that span. The only Premier League team with a better 15-minute window at any point during a match are Man City's 14 goals in the 61-75 minute window. Look out for Arsenal straight out of the halftime blocks.
Everton vs Arsenal prop bet
- Pick: Everton over 2.5 yellow cards
- Odds: +138 (BetMGM)
There's a few factors to this selection. First, referee David Coote has been one of the busier officials this season. He's whistled for the third-most fouls per tackle of any Premier League referee this year, but has chosen on multiple occasions not to give out yellow cards, ranking 16th in yellows per game of any official with at least five matches.
That will almost surely turn around. Last season, Coote ranked first in the league in fouls per tackle, and first in yellows per game, and the year before that he was in the top five in both as well. He has some catching up to do.
Additionally, Everton are known to pick up cards in bunches, and they have been shown just one caution over their last two matches, so there's some evening out there to do as well. With renewed vigor, they'll be flying into challenges to show their new manager what they can do ahead of the coming relegation fight.
While the game's threshold for total cards sits at 4.5, which is far too high a bar to clear, Everton should get to three without problems, as Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard dazzle in the attacking half.
Everton vs Arsenal flier bet
- Pick: Eddie Nketiah last goalscorer
- Odds: +450 (BetMGM)
Eddie Nketiah has exploded onto the scene as a replacement up front for Gabriel Jesus, and he's played the role of closer.
Of the three Premier League games Nketiah has scored in since the World Cup break, he's scored last in two of them, helping shut the door for Arsenal to secure points in league play. Expand that to all competitions this season, and Nketiah has been last goalscorer in four of the seven games in which he's found the back of the net.
Nketiah will have a big role to play in this match. Of the five times he's played against Everton (four starts), Arsenal have won two and lost three. The two wins were the two games Nketiah scored in, while he did not score in the three defeats. If the Gunners are to be victorious at Goodison and spoil Sean Dyche's plans, Nketiah will have to find his shooting boots.
Everton vs Arsenal live stream, TV channel
MORE: Watch Premier League matches live with fuboTV in the United States
MORE: Watch Everton vs Arsenal match live with fuboTV in Canada
Here's how to watch all of the action from this match in some of the major territories:
| TV channel | Streaming | |
|---|---|---|
| USA | USA Network, Universo | Universo NOW, nbcsports.com, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, fuboTV |
| Canada | — | fuboTV Canada |
| UK | BT Sport 1 | BT Sport App |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| New Zealand | — | Sky Sport NOW |
| India | Star Sports Select 1, Star Sports Select HD1 | Jio TV, Hotstar VIP |
| Hong Kong | Now Premier League TV (Ch. 620-621) | Now Player |
| Malaysia | Astro Super Sport | Astro GO, Sooka |
| Singapore | — | StarHub TV+ |
UK: The match can be seen on BT Sports' TV and streaming platforms in the UK.
USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on fuboTV. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streaming exclusively via fuboTV in Canada.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.
India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).
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