Arsenal head up to Goodison Park to take on Everton for the opening Premier League fixture of the weekend on Saturday afternoon, and our match preview has the latest team news and lineups ahead of the action.
Everton vs Arsenal Preview
Unbeaten in six across all competitions and fresh off the back of a second successive Premier League victory, high-flying Arsenal travel to Merseyside to take on Everton in the weekend’s opener on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners claimed a narrow 2-1 win over London rivals Fulham in midweek, where star man Bukayo Saka scored just seven minutes into his return from injury, following on from a 1-0 victory over Chelsea prior to the internationals.
Mikel Arteta’s side now find themselves 12 points adrift of league leaders Liverpool in second place, making a title triumph almost unattainable with just eight games left, while they are four points clear of third place Nottingham Forest.
Back in the squad, back on the scoresheet 👊 pic.twitter.com/OA4QIiSXnM
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 2, 2025
David Moyes’ Toffees on the other hand, are down in 15th place in the English top-flight table but look to have avoided relegation once again, as they are now a whopping 14 points clear of the drop zone.
Despite this, they head into Gameweek 31 without a win in five consecutive league outings, having drawn four in a row against Manchester United, Brentford, Wolves and West Ham, before suffering a 1-0 loss to Liverpool last time out.
When Everton and Arsenal last met in the Premier League, in December’s reverse fixture at the Emirates, it ended in a goalless stalemate. Before then, the North Londoners claimed victory in the fixture three times in a row.
Everton Team News
The Toffees remain without three key players for Arsenal’s visit, with Dwight McNeil (knee), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (thigh) and Orel Mangala (knee) all missing out due to their respective injury concerns.
On the plus side, Senegalese forward Iliman Ndiaye made his return from a knee injury as a second-half substitute in the Merseyside derby, so Moyes could opt to throw him in from the off this time around.
Arsenal Team News
As for the Gunners, their absentee list has grown since last week following confirmation that Gabriel will miss the rest of the campaign through injury. The Brazilian suffered a thigh injury in the win over Fulham last time out.
He joins Gabriel Jesus (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Kai Havertz (thigh) and Riccardo Calafiori (knee) on the sidelines, while both Ben White (knee) and Jurrien Timber (knee) are major doubts.
Everton vs Arsenal Predicted Lineups
Everton Predicted Lineup:
Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; Ndiaye, Doucoure, Alcaraz; Beto
Arsenal Predicted Lineup:
Raya; Partey, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli
Everton vs Arsenal Prediction
As one would expect, Arsenal are favoured by the best football betting sites in the UK at around 3/4 to prove victorious in Saturday’s fixture, while a draw is rated at 9/4 and an Everton win is priced at around 9/2.
While we at SportsCasting agree that the Gunners will walk away with three points, we don’t expect them to do so by a comfortable margin and believe that they face a tough battle at Goodison Park.
This is due to the fact that both sides’ recent results have been incredibly tight. Arsenal have won their last two by just a one-goal margin, having drawn the two preceding fixtures, while each of the Toffees’ last seven in the league haven’t been won by more than a one-goal margin, with five of those ending in stalemates.
We’re predicting a tightly contested affair, but expect Arteta’s men to get the job done.
Prediction: Everton 0-1 Arsenal
