Wednesday night's clash between Arsenal and Everton is set to have huge ramifications on both ends of the Premier League table. The tie is a rearranged fixture from earlier this season as the Gunners' Europa League tie with PSV Eindhoven had to take the original date due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last year.
As a result, the match at the Emirates was left until this point, where both sides will finally have chance to play the game in hand over their league rivals. For the Toffees, it offers them a chance to climb out of the relegation zones under new boss Sean Dyche, who had already masterminded a 1-0 win over Arsenal in his first game in charge.
For Mikel Arteta, he could see his side move five points clear of Manchester City in the title race and put the extra game they have to play into a points advantage on the table. While the Spaniard fell to defeat at the hands of Dyche last time out, it isn't just a case of revenge for him.
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“It’s a case of doing things better than we did when we played there a few weeks ago and earn the right to win the game," Arteta told reporters ahead of the clash. "Hopefully tomorrow we’ll play much better than we did that day.”
There has been plenty of talk surrounding the fixture, with pundits making their predictions over the final result of the crunch match. Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton is one of those, making a clear assessment on how he believes the tie will play out by the end of play.
He wrote for BBC Sport: "Everton gave Aston Villa a decent game on Saturday but they fell back into the bottom three after being beaten, and their big issue is still that they are so short of firepower. I saw a Tweet from BBC's chief football writer Phil McNulty about how the Toffees failure to sign a striker last summer or in January could come back to haunt them, and it's clear Dominic Calvert-Lewin will have a crucial part to play if they are going to stay up.
"I don't even see Everton getting near the goal too often on Wednesday, though. Arsenal have bounced back superbly from their defeat to Manchester City with two wins from two tough away games, against Villa and then Leicester. The Gunners will have a point to prove after losing at Goodison Park at the start of February - in Sean Dyche's first game in charge of Everton - and I don't see them having any problems this time."
Score prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Everton
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