Arsenal welcome Everton to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening as they look to take advantage of their game in hand and move five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Gunners lost in the reverse fixture, falling 1-0 to the Toffees in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge, but have since bounced back with back-to-back away wins and will be looking to continue that form into the tie.
We take a look at how we expect them to line up, and the latest team news coming out of the Gunners camp.
Predicted XI
Team News
Mikel Arteta remained coy on the potential involvement of midfielder Thomas Partey, who was a late substitute in their 1-0 win over Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.
“He hasn’t trained much, only had a session and he will train today”, the Spaniard explained. “He was out for a few weeks and he needs to get the rhythm.”
It throws into doubt whether or not he will start against Everton, with January addition Jorginho having impressed against both Leicester and Aston Villa in recent weeks. However, the physicality of the Toffees may force Arteta to opt for Partey over the diminutive Italian at the base of midfield.
The Arsenal boss also revealed his happiness at having Gabriel Jesus returning to full fitness in the coming weeks, and the return of Emile Smith Rowe to the substitutes bench, insisting that the pair will be vital options between now and the end of the season.
“We assess that [availability] situation every single day - the fact we have options right now, that we have players coming back from injury is going to be crucial because players cannot maintain the same level for 10 months, it is just impossible.
“We need to change and be more unpredictable and we have those options now.”
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