Match Preview: Everton v Arsenal

On Wednesday night, gooners were very pleased with the win at Villa Park, despite it not being pretty. It has come to the stage of the season where it doesn't matter how you get results, as long as you get them. And Arsenal proved that, by beating Aston Villa 1-0 courtesy of Abou Diaby's 'fluke' goal. A Julio Baptista shot was heading wide, until Diaby stuck out a foot to divert it home. But The Gunners deserved their bit of luck. Today, they travel to Goodison Park, the home of Everton, which is sure to be another tough encounter.

Despite having a few players back in the squad, Arsene Wenger is still missing key players, especially on the attacking front. Thierry Henry, Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott are all out for the majority of the season, as well as Emmanuel Adebayor who is suspended for today's clash. Emmanuel Eboue is also suspended but Kolo Toure and Alex Hleb return from suspension and injury respectively. Tomas Rosicky will be pushing for a start after coming on as a sub against Villa, following his injury. So leading the attack, again for Arsenal, are two men with a point to prove. Jeremie Aliadiere, who is likely to be sold in the summer due to his below-par performances, is out to show why Mr Wenger has kept faith in him. His partner in crime is Julio Baptista. 'The Beast' has not yet lived up to his potential, but has shown glimpses of things to come. A four goal haul at Anfield, a brace at White Hart Lane and some impressive dribbling, his mazing run and shot at Old Trafford springs to mind. The Brazilian is on loan at The Emirates and has expressed his desire to stay permanently, but still needs to prove that he is worth the potential £13m price tag on his shoulders, and a goal today might just secure his place at Arsenal next season.

Everton are without key midfielder, Tim Cahill for the rest of the campaign, but still have Mikel Arteta and Andy Johnson who pose great threats. The latter nearly joined the Gunners in the summer, but the price put Arsene Wenger off. Le Boss believes he will be a leading striker for England in the future: "I think Andy is a player who can help England, he is a good striker because of the timing and quality of his runs, his fantastic team ethic and the fact he never gives up. He can be one of the players who can compliment Wayne Rooney because Rooney is more of a second striker who can make the runs and you need another striker who can stretch the defence. Andy Johnson is one of those along with Michael Owen."

Team Prediction:
----------------------------------Lehmann----------------------------------
Hoyte---------------------Toure-----------Gallas---------------------Clichy
Ljungberg----------------Gilberto---------Fabregas-----------------Rosicky
--------------------------Baptista---------Aliadiere-------------------------

Score Prediction:
Everton 1-1 Arsenal

Scorers: Johnson and Ljungberg