For an Everton side who lost their first league game of the season last weekend, they must be fearing a swift second will follow against an Arsenal side who they’ve long since struggled against on the road.
Match News and Current Form
A clash of UEFA Champions League titans in midweek saw Arsenal draw 2-2 against Bayern Munich, but the Gunners will be confident of a return to winning ways in the Premier League, a competition in which they’ve won 11 of their last 12 matches (L1). It’s that sole defeat away to Brighton last month (3-0) which ensures Mikel Arteta’s men are three points off the title pace pre-round, but eight successive victories at the Emirates Stadium should ease fears of that gap widening this weekend. They conceded a mere two goals during that winning run, and few would bet against them stretching that winning run here having won ten of their last 11 Saturday-held home league games (L1).
Everton tasted defeat for the first time in all competitions this season (W4, D4) against Chelsea (2-0) last weekend. Bouncing back on the road looks like a tall order for the Toffees, who are winless in their last eight away league games (D5, L3), with all three such outings this season ending level - not since 2010/11 has a side drawn their first four away games of a Premier League campaign. A draw might be as good as it’s going to get for David Moyes though given his wretched record against reigning Premier League champions, with the experienced boss losing 11 of his last 12 top-flight matches against such sides (D1), while on the road he’s never beaten a reigning champion in 19 prior attempts (D5, L14).
Head-to-Head History
Everton have won one of their last 30 Premier League away H2Hs (D5, L24), with 13 of those failures coming under Moyes (D3, L10).
Hot Stats and Streaks
A pre-round joint league-high five of Arsenal’s seven league games this season stood level at half-time (HT: W1, L1).
Arsenal scored their last six league goals after half-time.
Everton have conceded the fewest first-half goals in the Premier League this season (1).
Five of Everton’s last six away games produced over 10.5 corners.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Partly due to keeping the joint-most clean sheets of any defender in Europe’s top-five leagues in all competitions in 2025/26 (24), Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhães is a Ballon d’Or nominee and is in line to make his 200th Premier League appearance here - since 2020/21, Arsenal have won 65% of their games when he plays and 44% when he hasn't. Harrison Armstrong has made twice as many fouls (10) as any other Everton player in the Premier League this term, though he is yet to be booked on the road.
Bukayo Saka picked up an injury against Bayern, while Everton look to be at full strength.
For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.
Betting Analysis
Everton’s rotten away record against the Gunners speaks for itself, so backing an Arsenal win to nil looks logical.
Author: Chris Wilson
