After we stretched our lead at the top when we were last in Premier League action, the opportunity to do so arises again on Saturday (5.30pm) when Everton head to north London.
We will be in action before Manchester City face West Ham United later in the day, setting up the tantalising prospect of moving 10 points clear, even if momentarily, especially given that Everton have won just one of their last 29 away league games in N5.
But the current Toffees side have been brilliant away from home this term, with only ourselves picking up more road points. David Moyes’ team arrive with momentum and freshness, and aiming to achieve another scalp for their legions of followers from Merseyside.
TOFFEES’ TREMENDOUS TRAVELS
Everton head to N5 on the back of an 11-day break, although they may have wished for an earlier opportunity to benefit from the momentum gained from successive wins over Newcastle United and Burnley, which lifted them to eighth in the table and a chance of a first European berth since 2017.
As they continue to settle into their new stadium, the Toffees have picked up more points on the road than in their new surroundings. They have lost just one of their last 10 away league games, and are unbeaten in six on the road since a 2-0 loss at Chelsea in December. Notable victories have come at Manchester United and Aston Villa, as well as the two most recent at Fulham and Newcastle.
In fact, since Moyes’ first away game back in charge in January last year, only ourselves (48) have picked up more Premier League points on the road than Everton (41), while the experienced boss has transformed them from relegation candidates to boasting the third-best defensive record in the division, with just 33 goals conceded in 29 matches.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Arteta: “You just have to go in that dressing room and feel the mood, the energy and the way we talk to each other and how much we value the position that we have right now and how much we want to be in the same position at the end of the season. That depends on us. Our focus is on what we have to do, what we have to maintain and what we have to improve together.
“If you’re in our seat from competition to competition, we’re going to play in three different competitions in seven days. So that drags you from one to another, the urgency to get prepared, to translate the messages that you want, to make the right decisions and to make sure that we arrive into any game in the best possible way.”
Read more
Every word from Mikel Arteta’s pre-Everton presser
Moyes: “They’ve done brilliant, Arsenal. Mikel has done brilliant. He’s got a great team, and I think they’ve probably got as big a chance this year of winning the league as they’ve ever had. So, I’d have to question the people who have been critical.
“They’re a strong, physical side and I don’t see a problem with any of that – it’s part of the game. If there’s this thing out there where everybody has to play the beautiful game, and everything has to be perfect, if we all did that, it would be boring.”
Read more
The story of Mikel Arteta’s six years at Everton
TEAM NEWS
Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard missed the midweek game against Bayer Leverkusen through injury and continue to be assessed ahead of the game.
After Ben White returned to the bench in Germany, Mikel Merino is our only long-term injury concern following his foot operation last month.
Charly Alcaraz and Seamus Coleman are both expected to miss this weekend’s clash with knocks, while Jack Grealish could be set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot.
Jarred Branthwaite should be fine to feature despite having the manage his load after recently returning from a long-term hamstring issue.
TALKING TACTICS
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: Moyes uses a 4-2-3-1 formation week in, week out, so it is unlikely we will see a tactical curveball. That continuity has helped Everton become the well-drilled outfit they are, and because they focus hard on doing the basics better than most, the Toffees are always very hard to break down.
Off the ball, they are one of the Premier League’s best pressers and enjoy unsettling the rhythm of their opponents. Only two top-flight sides have won a greater number of high turnovers (Manchester City and Brighton), so we must pass the ball well under pressure.
They have pace in forward areas, attacking midfielders Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman N’Diaye run beautifully with the ball, and both their centre-forwards have speed and power. Despite that, Everton struggle for goals and have the lowest xG, big chance count and goal tally of all the top-half teams.
At the other end, Moyes must be delighted with his team conceding just 33 times, behind only ourselves and Man City. While centre-back duo James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite are a formidable pairing, Jordan Pickford has prevented 4.7 extra goals between the posts.
FACTS AND STATS
We are unbeaten in our last six Premier League games against Everton, having lost four of our previous five.
We have kept 14 clean sheets in 30 league games this season; our most at this stage since 2005/06 (14).
We have scored more set-piece goals than any other side in the Premier League this season (21, excluding penalties). However, no team has shipped fewer than Everton (6).
We have won 10 Premier League games by a one-goal margin this season. Only in 2003/04 have we ever had more one-goal victories after 30 games of a Premier League season (12).
We have overperformed our expected goals more than any other Premier League side, netting 59 goals from an xG of 50. However, Everton have overperformed their xG against more than any other side, conceding just 33 goals from an xGA of 41.4.
Arsenal v Everton (209) is the third-most-played fixture in top-flight history, after Aston Villa v Everton (216) and Liverpool v Everton (213). Meanwhile, we are the only side in top-flight history to win 100+ games against a single opponent (103 wins v Everton).
David Moyes has won just one of his 20 Premier League away games against us, though it was a 2-0 win with West Ham on his last visit to Emirates Stadium in December 2023.
Gabriel Jesus has scored more Premier League goals against Everton than he has against any other side (8).
Bukayo Saka has had a hand in four goals across his five Premier League games against Everton at Emirates Stadium (1 goal, 3 assists).
MATCH OFFICIALS
Andy Madley has been handed his first Gunners game of the season, with his last Arsenal appointment coming in February 2025 when we drew 0-0 at Nottingham Forest. We have only won three of the seven times he has refereed us stretching back to November 2017.
In contrast, the West Yorkshire official has overseen Everton 22 times, of which they have won nine. Two have come this season – a 2-0 home win against Fulham in November, as well as last month’s 2-1 loss against Bournemouth, when Madley sent off Jake O’Brien but awarded the Toffees a penalty – one of five he has given in his past five matches.
Referee: Andy Madley
Assistants: Simon Long, Craig Taylor
Fourth official: John Busby
OUR: Stuart Attwell
Assistant VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis
RECENT VISITS FROM EVERTON
The Toffees haven’t enjoyed playing at Highbury and Emirates Stadium during the Premier League era as they’ve won just two of their 33 trips, coming in 1996 and 2021. Indeed, the Toffees have lost nine of their last 11 visits, but this fixture last season finished goalless in December 2024, despite us having 76% possession and 13 shots.
The previous May, we faced each other on the final day of the 2023/24 season when the visitors did take the lead when Idrissa Gueye saw a free-kick deflect past David Raya, but still in with a chance of the title, we came back and Takehiro Tomiyasu equalised before Kai Havertz grabbed a late winner.
We cruised to a 4-0 success in March 2023 as a Gabriel Martinelli brace was added to by a Bukayo Saka blast and an Odegaard finish to seal a convincing win.
Read more
Remember these six classic wins against Everton?
LIVE COVERAGE
Live from N5 is back an hour before kick-off, being streamed on Arsenal.com and our new app – The Arsenal (download now on iOS/Android), when Nakeira and Jeremie will be joined by former Gunner Remi Garde in the studio, as well as UFC fighter Lone’er Kavanagh.
You can get a sneak peek at some exclusive content appearing on The Arsenal very soon, plus there’s the usual fun and games as we crown our Hero of the Week, Nakeira takes on your Live from N5 Hall of Fame vote for the first time, True or False brainteasers and another round of Time Capsule as we test your knowledge of away days of years gone by.
Then just before kick-off, live commentary will be provided by Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke at Emirates Stadium as we hope for another massive three points.
You can also find out which TV channels are showing the action live, wherever you are in the world.
Read more
How to watch Arsenal v Everton live on TV
Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
