MONDAY PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker previews Monday’s Premier League game between EVERTON v ARSENAL with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.
EVERTON V ARSENAL
8pm Monday Night Football comes from Goodison this week as Everton host Arsenal! This is going to be a cracking fixture, and it’s a fascinating situation from a betting point of view on BETDAQ Betting Exchange as both sides have a lot of questions to answer. Everton come into this fixture without a win in eight Premier League games and I have seen rumours in the media that they are asking to interview managers. How must that make Rafa Benitez feel? He could have taken a bigger job than Everton after taking a job for money in China, and he faces the embarrassment of being sacked. Where does he go from here?
Arsenal also come into this game on a low. There’s always some sort of drama at Arsenal to be honest, but they faced huge questions after their 3-2 loss against Manchester United midweek. I said before the game that United put themselves in a position where Arsenal fans expected to get something from that game, and to come up short against United at the moment is obviously very disappointing. Results haven’t gone their way over the weekend too, West Ham’s win against Chelsea means Arsenal start this game four points behind West Ham in the race for fourth.
It’s almost remarkable Arsenal are in the race for the Top Four given all the issues this season, and they have put a winning run together against weaker teams. It will be very interesting to see where they stand in January. They have to play West Ham, Manchester City and Spurs before the 16th of January. You don’t need me to tell you that this is a massive game for both sides for different reasons. Arsenal need a win to stay in the mix for the Top Four and Everton need some sort of result for a confidence boost. The question is, who will get what they want?
If you look at Everton’s fixture list, they have had a very tough run of games. Within that eight game run without a win they have had to play Manchester United away, West Ham, Wolves away, Spurs, Manchester City away and Liverpool. The problem has mainly come from losing to Watford at home and Brentford away – basically you can’t expect Everton to beat the Top Four; they just aren’t that level. This is an interesting game, because Arsenal are actually very far off the Top Four level – every time they come up against a top side they come up short.
It’s always interesting to see how Arsenal cope in tough situations away from home, and I feel the value call is an Arsenal lay at 2.22. Arsenal have had some very lucky away results recently – they won at Leicester but conceded an xG of 2.1 and they drew at Brighton but conceded an xG three times bigger than they created. I’m happy to overlook losing away to Liverpool and even Manchester United but the general theme is Arsenal aren’t performing too well away from home. They were even lucky to win away to Burnley.
I know Everton have a number of issues themselves, and it’s for that reason I’m happy to keep stakes low because Arsenal look too short here at 2.22. They perform nicely against the smaller sides, but they always tend to come up short under pressure. I feel Everton can put them under pressure here and get a result.
The Striker Says:
Two points lay (liability) Arsenal to beat Everton at 2.22 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQEvears
MATCH STATS
● Everton won both Premier League games against Arsenal last season – they’ve not won three in a row against the Gunners in league competition since April 1986.
● Arsenal are without a win in their last three Premier League away games against Everton (D1 L2), last having a longer winless league run at Goodison Park between 1989 and 1994 (6 games).
● Arsenal have scored 111 Premier League goals against Everton, more than they have vs any other side in the competition. Indeed, only Manchester United have netted more against a single opponent in the competition (112 vs Newcastle).
● Everton lost their first Monday Premier League match this season 2-1 at Wolves – they’ve not lost consecutive Monday games in the competition since April 2006/January 2007 (vs Chelsea and Man City).
● Arsenal have lost two of their last three games in the Premier League (W1), conceding seven goals in the process. Prior to this, the Gunners had gone unbeaten in their previous eight matches (W6 D2) and conceded only four times.
● Everton have lost six of their last seven Premier League matches (D1) and are winless in their last eight (D2 L6). The Toffees haven’t gone nine without a win since a 12-game run between August and October 1994.
● In his Premier League career, Everton manager Rafael Benítez has seen his sides concede more goals against Arsenal (27) than against any other team in the competition. Indeed, the Spaniard has seen his teams keep just one clean sheet in 17 top-flight games against the Gunners (1-0 with Liverpool in February 2016).
● Everton’s Demarai Gray has scored more Premier League goals than any other Toffees player this season (4), while Gray has never netted more than four in a Premier League season in his career, also netting four in 2018-19 at Leicester City.
● Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored eight goals in nine Premier League games played on Mondays, with only Ian Wright (14) netting more on this day of the week for the Gunners in the competition. Aubameyang averages a goal every 85 minutes in the Premier League on Mondays, his best such record on a specific weekday.
● Emile Smith Rowe has had a hand in eight goals in his last 11 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal (6 goals, 2 assists). Indeed, only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (9) has more goal involvements for the Gunners this season than the 21-year-old (8).
