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Arsenal have had just a couple of days to prepare for Everton but look comfortable against their Premier League rivals so far.
There’s nothing to separate Arsenal and Everton on the scoreline so far, but Mikel Arteta’s side are in cruise control so far at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners went into Saturday afternoon’s meeting with the Toffees having already played twice in the last six days, drawing against Fulham last weekend before beating AS Monaco on Wednesday. Everton, however, made the trip to London rested with last weekend’s Merseyside derby postponed due to Storm Darragh.
Speaking ahead of the match, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard admitted that could be a positive or a negative for his side. The 25-year-old wrote in the matchday programme: “They didn’t play last weekend, or in midweek, so they have had a bit of rest too coming into this game. You never know if that’s an advantage or not though, because we are in the rhythm of playing every few days, and we’re pretty used to that now. They might have the rest, but we have the rhythm, so at the end I don’t think it will make much difference.”
Despite early dominance of possession from the hosts, it was Everton who posed the first serious problem, Abdoulaye Doucoure bearing down on the Arsenal goal on a break which required Gabriel to eat up ground and intervene.
That scare out the way, Arteta will be pleased with how his side controlled the fixture, a series of dangerous crosses and set-plays causing Everton problems without finding their way into the back of the net. The best chance of the opening 45 minutes came as the in-form Bukayo Saka snuck in behind Viatli Mykolenko but Odegaard couldn’t sort his feet out to poke in the golden opportunity.
Here’s how the Arsenal players rated from the first half of action at the Emirates Stadium.
GK - David Raya, 8
Nothing to do so far. Nearly called into action on an early Everton break but Gabriel intervened.
RB - Myles Lewis-Skelly, 8
Looks composed on his first Premier League start of the campaign. Better on the flank than when drifting into the middle but there’s clearly an exciting player here.
CB - William Saliba, 8
His usual self. At this point, looks unlikely to be beaten by the Everton forward line.
CB - Gabriel, 10
Gabriel intervened to save his side early.Gabriel intervened to save his side early.
Gabriel intervened to save his side early. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Put in a gut-busting run to get in the way of the Doucoure chance and it was his body that ended the Everton move that followed that corner.
RB - Jurrien Timber, 7
Busying himself where possible but it was on his side that the one Everton break happened.
CM - Mikel Merino, 6
The quietest of the three central midfielders for Arsenal, struggling to find the influence coming from Rice and Odegaard.
CM - Declan Rice, 8
Has put in a couple of corners with delicious curve that have had the Emirates Stadium holding its break. Spotted a brilliant chance to slot Saka through after 17 minutes but his mind perhaps worked a little too fast in seeing that.
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CM - Martin Odegaard, 7
At the heart of everything that Arsenal do well, as usual, but could have had a hat-trick already. Skied a volley over from inside the box after ten minutes and then fired a more difficult chance wide moments later from a similar position. The best chance of the game fell to the captain as Saka pulled back from the wing but he couldn’t sort his feet out and should have done much better.
LW - Gabriel Martinelli, 8
Martinelli races against Jack Harrison of Everton.Martinelli races against Jack Harrison of Everton.
Martinelli races against Jack Harrison of Everton. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
A couple of nice moments, Martinelli has the beating of Everton with his pace, but the Gunners are more dangerous on the right. Drew a good save from Pickford just before the break.
ST - Kai Havertz, 8
On the prowl up top, giving Jordan Pickford little time to relax. Won a cheap corner off Jarrad Branthwaite thanks to that keenness.
Easy to see why the Arsenal starboy could be considered one of the best wingers on the planet right now. The most dangerous player on the pitch, his work to tee up Odegaard was magnificent.
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