BUILDING CONSISTENCY: ARSENAL vs EVERTON

“Now for someone to be consistent in the Premier League you have to win every week and compete at the highest level every week- but to compete for the Premier League is really, really hard.”- Mikel Arteta.

With a run of five wins in our last six league games coupled with three successive clean sheets, it is about that point in a campaign where words such as “consistency” begin to be bandied about. Consistency will doubtless be key in deciding the destination of the league title come May 2016, and Arsenal will be looking to underline their aspirations when they take on Everton in Saturday’s late kick-off fixture at the Emirates. Wins over Manchester United and Bayern Munich have certainly brought the feel-good factor back at the Emirates after a drab start to the season in terms of our form at home, and another three points against a difficult opponent will be crucial, especially considering United and City play each other this weekend. Tomorrow’s opponents Everton had been in decent form prior to last weekend’s home defeat at the hands of Manchester United, a result which means they have now won just one of their last four games.

Our head-to-head record with the Toffees will fill you with optimism- we have only lost one of our last 16 league games against Everton. Our record at home to Everton is even better- Everton haven’t won at Arsenal in the last 19 games in all competitions, a run stretching back to January 1996. Overall, we have kept five clean sheets in our last seven league games, scoring 13 goals in our last five, and winning the last three by three-goal margins. Everton, meanwhile, have kept three league clean sheets, and only one in their last five games. Of course form doesn’t count for much when the 22 players take to the pitch, but confidence does affect performance and that should count in our favour.

Tactically speaking, it has been interesting to watch Everton play under Roberto Martinez this season. This is the Spaniard’s third season in charge at Goodison Park, but many will remember Everton pushing us close for the 4^th Champions League spot in the 2013/2014 season, when Everton held us 2-2 at the Emirates. Everton played some great possession football on the day, dominating possession as we turned in a particularly tepid first-half performance. Things have since changed, tactics shifted and playing styles modified, more so for Everton after they endured a difficult start to the following 2014/2015 season. Everton struggled to get the best out of Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku, and it was largely suggested that this was a direct consequence of their prevalent style of play. Consider this, if you will:

	Average Possession	Passing Accuracy	% of long balls
2013/2014	53%	84%	40%
2014/2015	51%	83%	40%
2015/2016	50%	81%	42%

Martinez realised he had to play a more direct brand of football to get the best out of the club record signing-Lukaku, and it has told this season. Lukaku has scored five goals in nine appearances and is much more involved at the top end of Everton’s play. Initially Arouna Kone and now Gerard Deulofeu have played their parts in assisting the Belgian, but none more so than Ross Barkley. The England international has already registered more assists in nine games this season (3) than he did in the whole of the last season, and his two goals scored so far is as many as he managed last season too. More telling perhaps is his “chances created” stat, which has grown steadily from 0.74 per game in 2013/2014, to 1.14 in 2014/2015, and 1.8 in 2015/2016. If we’re to keep another clean sheet tomorrow you feel we have to cut the supply line into Lukaku, and Francis Coquelin will have to be on his toes.

Team news now, and we have to make do without Aaron Ramsey and David Ospina for up to four weeks. Mikel Arteta will also miss tomorrow’s game after he suffered an ankle injury in training on Thursday. Wilshere, Rosicky and Welbeck are penciled in for returns in early 2016. In more positive injury news, Gabriel has made a full recovery from illness and has taken part in training, meaning he is available for selection tomorrow. Oxlade-Chamberlain will come into the team in the absence of Ramsey and Arteta, and I’m sure many like myself will be excited to see what the Ox has to offer after a consistent run in the starting XI. What that means, however, is that we’re now short on options on the bench- should things not go well with our Starting XI there won’t be much in the way of alternatives to personnel that Arsene Wenger can make. Fingers crossed then!

There had been talk of resting a couple of players for the game against Bayern, and the theme has still persisted in the lead-up to tomorrow’s game, but the manager wasn’t forthcoming on the issue:

“I’m not sure at the moment to rotate because we had a medical meeting this morning with our recovery tests to see how everybody recovered and so it is difficult to speculate on players who might be tired and are not tired, sometimes you might see that during the game. I don’t think we have a fatigue problem.”- Arsene Wenger.

Everton’s 3-0 win over Arsenal in the 2013/2014 season featured Lukaku at his bullying best, taking advantage of space down Arsenal’s left to take on and, admittedly, give Nacho Monreal a torrid time at LB. This time he comes up against a different Nacho Monreal, a player who has grown into one of the best fullbacks in the league in 2015, and an Arsenal side with a better set-up and better shape in midfield. Lukaku will likely not drift to the right as often with the inclusion of Deulofeu in the line-up however, and he will pose an entirely different problem for Monreal. A true flair player, but his crossing has come on in leaps and bounds. Favouring a cross whipped in with his right, Cazorla or Sanchez may have to double up on Deulofeu to cut off that particular supply line.

Theo Walcott looks set for yet another start despite Giroud scoring after coming off the bench in four of his last six matches, and perhaps this is lingering in the manager’s thoughts:

“You have to accept that no club in the world can play with only one striker. If I would do it then you would first accuse me of being irresponsible… They are top players, I consider the form, the game on the day but at the end of the season both will have played their share of games. At the moment it is Theo but in a few weeks it might be Giroud. What is important is that both contribute.”- Arsene Wenger.

The Frenchman gave the team a different dimension after coming on against Bayern in midweek, helping us to have more of the ball in Bayern’s half and holding it up well for Cazorla and Ozil to join in play. You suspect tomorrow will not be as difficult for us to play in opposition territory. We’ll again be looking to Alexis, Ozil and Walcott to convert possession into goals, and with the added dimension of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s power and pace down the right providing additional speed and an outlet on the counter-attack, tomorrow promises to be an exciting game. Enjoy it J

*Quotes and image courtesy of Arsenal Media*