TEAM NEWS

Bukayo Saka came off early on against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night with a quad issue, which Mikel Arteta has suggested will continue to be assessed by specialists over the coming days, but he will miss this game.

Piero Hincapie is back in training after his ankle injury, but Christos Tzolis (hamstring) and William Saliba (back) are continuing their recoveries.

Moyes meanwhile has indicated he has a few injury issues of his own, which could include Jarrad Branthwaite after his heavy collision with Emiliano Martinez last weekend, which left the Chelsea goalkeeper with a broken jaw.

Former Gunner Christian Norgaard recovered from a groin injury to make a belated debut against the Blues, but Moyes believes he isn't quite match-fit yet, while it remains to be seen if another familiar face in Ainsley Maitland-Niles lines up against us, or whether Jake O’Brien starts at right-back.

TALKING TACTICS

Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: Overall, Everton have a balanced style, but physicality and aggression are always at the heart of what they do best. Centre-backs James Tarkowski and Branthwaite want to dominate their duels and lay the foundation for the rest of the side to thrive. The duo, alongside striker Thierno Barry, boast serious aerial power, with three set-piece goals registered already.

A new-look central midfield of the technically excellent James Garner and 19-year-old Harrison Armstrong is also functioning extremely well. With Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also working in close proximity, the engine room is an area of the pitch Everton aren't dominated in too often.

Pressing has become a core part of their armoury. While they are content to drop deep and defend their own box when necessary, the Merseysiders are also not afraid to hunt in packs higher up the pitch. They have enjoyed a joint league-high 14 shot-ending high turnovers so far, and are very dangerous in those situations.

Moyes will be disappointed with their finishing. They have created an impressive 22 big chances but have converted just four into goals. The full-back areas are also slightly concerning, with multiple errors from them leading to goals.

FACTS AND STATS

We are unbeaten in our last seven Premier League matches against Everton, our best run against the Toffees since going 13 without defeat between December 2007 and December 2013.

Under David Moyes, the Toffees have never won away at us in 13 league attempts.

No side have conceded fewer Premier League goals than us this season, while we have also faced fewer shots on target (21) and have a lower xG against (5.6) than any other side.

Everton have conceded just once in the first half, fewer than any other Premier League team. Meanwhile, each of our last six goals in the competition have come after half-time.

We have won our last two Premier League games against Everton without conceding a goal; only in March 1999 have we achieved three in a row in the competition.

Everton are winless in six Premier League games in London (D3 L3), failing to score in their last two.

Martin Odegaard has made more line-breaking passes leading to a goal than any other player in the Premier League. He has also been directly involved in four goals (2 goals, 2 assists) in his last four Premier League home games against Everton.

Declan Rice has assisted four of our last six league goals, with the last three being match-winning goal contributions.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Tony Harrington has been given this game, which is only the fourth time he has refereed us. We have won the previous three, a 3-1 success against Southampton in October 2024, a 2-0 win against Brentford last December and the 4-1 FA Cup triumph at Portsmouth the following month.

The Yorkshireman is better known to the Toffees, who have only lost three of 12 games he’s presided over. They have won the last three, which have all been on the road, including victories at Old Trafford, Villa Park and a Carabao Cup victory at Preston back in August. His three top-flight outings this term have seen 10 yellow cards, one red and two penalties.

Referee: Tony Harrington

Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Lee Betts

Fourth official: Ruebyn Ricardo

VAR: Stuart Attwell

Assistant VAR: Tom Nield

EVERTON’S RECENT VISITS

The Toffees haven’t enjoyed playing at Highbury and Emirates Stadium in the Premier League era, winning just two of their 34 trips, in 1996 and 2021. Indeed, they have lost 10 of their last 12 visits, during which time we’ve scored 30 goals, or an average of 2.5 per game.

Last season’s encounter will live long in the memory as we left it late to snatch a priceless victory, with Viktor Gyokeres netting in the 89th minute before Max Dowman became the Premier League’s youngest-ever scorer with his first Gunners goal.

The season before brought a goalless draw in December 2024, while in May 2024 we faced each other on the final day of the season. The visitors did take the lead when Idrissa Gueye saw a free-kick deflect past David Raya, but still in with a chance of the title, we came back and Takehiro Tomiyasu equalised before Kai Havertz grabbed a late winner.

LIVE COVERAGE

With the game not being shown on UK TV, the only place to enjoy dedicated build-up is on Arsenal.com and The Arsenal app (download now on iOS/Android) with Live From N5!

Nicole Holliday and Timbsy will be at Emirates Stadium, joined in the studio by musicians Mike D and Cristale to get their take on all-things Arsenal. There will be a look back at Myles Lewis-Skelly's appearance on the Live at Sobha sofa, while Frimmy will be pitchside with Adrian Clarke to get the lowdown ahead of the game.

After the usual fun, games and quizzes, Clarkey will join Dan Roebuck behind the mics to commentate on all the on-pitch action, so tune in!