Everton have made the decision to part ways with manager Frank Lampard after their recent Premier League loss to West Ham. The Toffees survived last season's relegation dog fight, but back-to-back defeats to fellow strugglers Southampton and now West Ham in this campaign has seen the club take action and relieve Lampard of his managerial duties.
The former Chelsea midfielder leaves Goodison Park with the club second from bottom after just three wins from 20 games. 35 points separate Everton and Arsenal, but the Gunners could be heavily impacted by the decision to sack Lampard.
Manchester United's 3-1 win against Everton in the FA Cup means that whoever is brought in by the board will have just under two weeks on the training ground to instil their ideas and methods along with building relationships.
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The first fixture for said new manager will be against Arsenal at Goodison Park in a 12:30pm kick off on Saturday, February 4 where the new manager bounce could certainly be in play.
Aston Villa saw as much occur with Unai Emery guiding a low on confidence Villa team under Steven Gerrard to back-to-back wins against Manchester United and then Brighton in his first two league games.
The candidate to replace Lampard is currently unclear, although ex-Burnley boss Sean Dyche is currently the odds-on favourite, with Marcelo Bielsa just behind him. Mauricio Pochettino is also on the list amid rumours linking him with a sensational reunion at Tottenham Hotspur.
Duncan Ferguson, Wayne Rooney and David Moyes are the names listed next and all five have differing levels of experience in Premier League management. Of course, whoever does take the reigns from Lampard will be looking to make an immediate impact and that would potentially come against the league leaders.
Perhaps in past seasons, the thought of a new manager bounce derailing any Arsenal momentum would be a concern. This season though, Arteta has a team that show no signs of slowing down, but it is worth noting that Everton could come into the contest with rejuvinated and thus deal Arsenal a shock blow in the title race.
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