Arsenal vs. Everton – English Premier League, April 23, 2021

A lot has happened since these two sides last played at the weekend. The prospect of a European Super League – involving Arsenal – has seemingly come and gone. Now Everton, one place above the ‘big six’ Gunners in eighth, travels to London in search of points to help with its own European dream.

Both sides still have an outside chance of finishing in the top seven but have not looked that convincing in recent weeks. Defeat here could be the end of the line for the loser.

Neither side has looked particularly impressive in recent weeks, so I would have expected that the odds from BetOnline to be closer than this.

Arsenal is the favorite but is sweating on the fitness of several players. That makes the prospect of a draw a little more attractive here.

Before Arsenal became embroiled in the Super League farce at the start of this week, it had Eddie Nketiah to thank for salvaging a point against Fulham on Sunday. The Gunners probably deserved at least a draw from the game, but it had looked as though an embarrassing defeat was going to derail any hopes of qualifying for Europe.

Now Mikel Arteta needs to patch together a depleted squad to face one of its main rivals for a Europa League, or Europa Conference League, berth.

Everton will also be chasing a top-seven finish and will need to break out of its recent habit of drawing games to achieve that. The 2-2 draw against Spurs at the weekend should be seen as a good result, but the Toffees had better chances and ended up gifting Harry Kane both goals in the draw.

Carlo Ancelotti has fewer problems to deal with as far as injuries go but may well have to do without the services of Dominic Calvert-Lewin once again. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored both goals against Tottenham and will need to impose himself on this game if Everton is to have a chance of coming away with anything positive.

Strangely, either of these clubs is still scrapping at the faint hope of qualifying Europe this season. Arsenal, because it looked more like being relegated earlier in the campaign – and Everton, because it started so brightly that it should really have already consolidated a top position.

In reality, neither side has looked consistently good this season. Another draw may well be the outcome unwanted by either manager.