Everton v Arsenal: Toffees to make it three on the spin

Everton v Arsenal
Saturday December 19, 17:30

A season of cycles at Everton

It's been an odd season so far for Everton. It started with an excellent run at the start of the campaign that sort of ended with that 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool and what then followed was a poor run that included three defeats in four, the most worrying of which was a home loss to Leeds. Is this run of two straight wins against tough sides the start of a third cycle?

We'll have to wait and see but despite injuries at the back that saw them field four centre-backs on the day (two were obviously playing as full-backs) against Leicester, they look a much better-drilled side at the moment.

The goals have dried up a bit for Dominic Calvert-Lewin after that barnstorming start to the season and it's now just one in his last four but Carlo Ancelotti won't be too fussed about that as long as they keep on winning.

Ancelotti may, however, have a problem on his hands ahead of this one. Allan, playing in that selfless ball-winning role in the middle of the park that's so vital in any team's structure, has been excellent. But he picked up a knock against Leicester and may have to sit this one out. Andre Gomes is a decent replacement but it won't be quite the same.

Gunners stop the rot but what next?

Another game, another sending off. This time it was Gabriel taking an early bath after two bookings, just days after Granit Xhaka saw red against Burnley. This continued indiscipline is going to hurt the Gunners.

Still, at least they avoided defeat against a Saints' side who are going places. It brought the end of a run of three straight losses in the league.

But it's a poor state of affairs when you're Arsenal and consider a home draw against Southampton a decent result, sending off or no sending off.

Apparently, Arteta has asked the board to sign Isco and Houssem Aouar. Easier said than done, but boy do they need more quality.

Home win makes plenty of appeal

It's been a mixed bag of results between these two at Goodison. The last four have produced two home wins, an away win and a 0-0 draw, which is what happened last time out.

I think if we look at those results, Everton's league position, recent form, Arsenal's lack of it and the general mood in the two camps, we can easily make a case for the home win at 2.427/5.

With so many alternatives to just a straight win these days on Betfair, including combining that with the number of goals or whether it's to win to nil and so on, there's a temptation to try to find a bigger price.

But I'll resist that temptation. It's not worth being too greedy and I think it's a very fair price.

Swerve the goals market

The over/under 2.5 goals market is finding it hard to split the pair. No surprise. Just 33% of Arsenal's away games this season have gone overs while for Everton it's 66% that have had at least three goals.

To further muddy the waters, two of the last four between these two at Goodison went overs and two went unders. You might as well flick a coin.

Richarlison to make his mark on the game

At first glance, the 21/10 on Richarlison to score doesn't look great value. He's scored just twice this season.

But he did miss three games through suspension after being sent off against Liverpool and is fresh from scoring against Leicester, where he was lively the whole game. He also scored in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates last season. This is an Arsenal side with no clean sheets in their last five in all competitions and whatever the final score is, I wouldn't be surprised if the Toffees didn't get at least two.

He looks like the pick with Calvert-Lewin too short at 5/4 given he's gone off the boil a bit. Gylfi Sigurdsson is an acceptable price at 4/1 but you'd think he'd probably need some decent set-piece chances or a penalty to give you a good run for your money.

As things stand, I'm not sure anyone at Arsenal deserves a second look at the prices.

Same Game Multi-bet anyone?

Arsenal's last six games have seen the opposition score first in five of them and a 0-0. It's 4/5 that Everton open the scoring.

If you take that and put it together with at least one Richarlison shot on target at 4/11 (that does of course include a goal), the same game multi-bet would come to 2.51.